


Code: Red! Error: Green!

by DraconaVhenan



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, MC has a backstory, mc has a personality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:49:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26730148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraconaVhenan/pseuds/DraconaVhenan
Summary: MC has her own name and the story deals with what happens between the chats and increases character interactions. Instead of the first party taking 11 days to plan, I lengthened it in my story in order to add more development of the MC and relationship between other characters. More phone calls and conversations are added between down times, and other elements from other routes are sprinkled into the story.It mostly stays  canon with 707's route.When a stranger enters the RFA chat the members are forced to face their pasts and future. Roxanne is dragged into a plot and unravels the mysterious that lurk underneath, along the way she has her own past catching up to her. What happens when the truth comes out?
Relationships: 707 | Choi Luciel/Main Character
Comments: 16
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! This is my own take on the events that happen in MM. I have MC her own name, Roxanne. Hope you enjoy it.

Roxanne rolled her shoulders as she adjusted the straps of her bag, glancing quickly over her shoulder as she felt her bag move. Just a passer by accidentally nudging against her. She shifts her weight on her feet as she glances down the street and then leans her shoulder against the bus stop as she replaces her headphones and flicks out her phone. Deep green eyes scanned the screen as she picked one of her own playlist.

The heavy beat vibrated through her ears, as her free hand tapped on her thigh to the beat. Her eyes glance up as a bright red Ferrari passes by, sticking out against the other more mundane cars before disappearing into the distance. With a cocked eyebrow, Roxanne can't hell but wonder what rich big shot had just passed by. A vibration in her hand brought her attention back down to her phone.

The corner of her lip pulls down at the words on her screen. Her dorm mates were having friends over, or so the message said, and Roxanne knew what that meant, a party. Which meant loud guests and her plans, for sitting at her desk typing away on an assignment spiraled down the drain. Sure, she could out on her headphones, set the volume to max as she usually does. That would not matter however, her roommates would inevitable drag her out to join them.

She didn't dislike her roommates, in-fact she had a something like a friendship with them, the message even asked if she had any special snack or drink requests. Tonight, however, she preferred less people in her vicinity, but a drink did sound nice.

She could pop by the convenience store and get it herself, the bus was nowhere in sight.

'Five bucks, that the moment I leave it will appear,' she thinks to herself.

Before she could make her decision her phone began vibrating.

The moment her eyes flicked down to her screen she froze, as a series of ones and zeroes flashed across her screen and the flickered into a downloading screen that said:

Downloading Rika's Fundraising Association.

What the fuck!

Roxanne's fingers rapidly tapped on her screen, before going onto the buttons trying to force a reset. Her efforts were useless, her head snapped up as she swiftly looks around. No one was looking at her, some people glances up at her due to her sudden movement. A ring in her headphones once more brought her attention to her phone.

Download: 100%.

Then the screen flickered into a chat room layout and the first message from unknown arrived.

Roxanne tapped her finger on the screen, he had asked her to go to an address and deliver a message to some stranger that he found their phone. Everything, everything about this stank. She couldn't help but scrunch up her nose at the screen. Go to a random address given by a stranger, on her phone after it had downloaded a strange application on it's own.

She could close it, head home and assess the situation then, hack into her own phone and figure out what was going on. The smart, logical move. Her finger hovered on the lock button her phone, and a chilk ran down her spine. She kept her head bowed as her eyes flickered around.

A red bus rounds the corner, her bus, that would take her to her dorm. Roxanne steps back, letting someone pass and then watches the doors close and the bus leave.

No, she would not be going home, whatever was happening, she had to know. Typing out a response to unknown she closed her phone and headed towards the bus stop that would take her to the address.

The street was in one of the nicer parts of the city, and yet still close to SKY university. The building itself was, nicer than the dorm buildings. While her dorms were clean, there were hints that they were the dorms after all. This building had a white exterior and a functional high end elevator. Which she took to her floor and now found herself in-front of the locked door, staring down at her phone. Unknown had given her the password to the number lock, with such ease.

What was going on?!

Just go in and leave a note. Why not leave a note at the door or at the neighbors. She should leave... should she?

Dammit, she typed in the numbers and there was a satisfying click of the door unlocking.

"Hello?!" Roxanne called out, head peering into the apartment. Nothing. She steps in, the door shutting behind her. A curse leaves her lips as she does.

The apartment is clean, there's a coat hanger in the pristine hallways and several open doors. To her the right there's an open door, revealing the bathroom. Left, was a bedroom. At the end of the hall was an open area, the largest room to the left there was a desk against the wall with a laptop. Roxanne can't help but feel the pride in her own being better, dammit this was not the time.

To the right was on open kitchen connected to the living room.

Once more her phone vibrated, one last message from unknown before another onslaught of ones and zeros zoomed across her screen.

"Fucker!" She growls, before the screen opens into the RFA application. Immediately her phone buzzes with a notification; a new chatroom has been open.


	2. Chapter 1

Roxanne sat on the couch, rubbing at her temples as she took a deep breath.

That, was an experience.

How did she end up from being a programming student to a sudden party planner, with a fancy apartment that no student could afford. The second part was, useful, she had the perfect excuse to avoid the party tonight. Once more she opened her phone, rereading through the messages, includinf the private ones. Each one of them welcoming her to the RFA. Her finger hovered over the Hackers icon, 707 or Luciel. He admitted to being the resident hacker, but he wasn't responsible to what happened to her phone.

She gnawed on her lower lip, she was going to do it herself, but he had created the app and would notice if she tried to fiddle with it herself. She could clear any trace of herself. Her mind was already racing as her brain connected the puzzle pieces how to deal with it herself before she shook her head ending her day dream.

Was she going to really do this?

Roxanne got up to her feet.

She had already said yes, and questions simmered in her brain. Her eyes flickered to Rika's laptop. 7 had told her that she could change the password to the door if she wanted to through there, he'd giver her permission to do it once.

So that's the first thing she did, before exploring the apartment. She'd need her clothes, stock up on groceries, bring her essentials.

Roxanne stashed her bag in the closed in the bedroom before heading back to her dorms, phone in pocket.

It takes a few hours before she's back in the red carpeted hallways, bags in hand. She had fabricated a lie that an old friend had askes her to watch over her apartment, to her dormmates. They had believed her but still tried to convince her to stay at the party. She had declined politely, glad for the perfect excuse.

Something lighting up caught her attention right as she input the code.

Her head flicked up, eyes landing on the security camera, pointed right at her.

Of course, Cameras.

That's when it hit her, throwing the bags into the apartment she slammed the door shut. She checked the bathroom, then the bedroom and finally in the largest room she spotted it. The camera, it faced away from the study area towards the kitchen and living room.

Of course, of course there were cameras in here. She pressed her lips together, before she stuck out her tongue at the camera to unpack.

707's lips curled up as her figure disappeared from the camera, before his golden eyes refocused back on the code in-front of him.

He wasn't going to spy on her, not in that sense. Throughout the day, however he did glance at the CCTV, just to make sure nothing bad happened. Her deep jade hair stuck out in the apartments soft colors and if he had squinted which he did he could have sword he saw some piercings. He did not spend a lot of time squinting, only when curiosity grasped him for a moment. After all she was a new member of the RFA, and it was his job to make sure she was safe and just incase categorize information about. He had of course, compared it to her student card, to make sure the person was the same. Her university ID photo had been open on the other screen. Same jade green eyes, tied up with a thick layer of bangs that ended right before her eyebrows, where he noted one, no, two eyebrow piecings accompanied by multiple ear piercings as well. From her appearance one might have expected to be glaring at the camera or scowling, but she was not. There was a wide smile on her face that reached her eyes. 7 had also noted her major, programming and the specific courses she had been taking, cyber security being one of them. Her grades, straight A's. 

He still needed to look further into her background, but currently she was just a student. But that would wait till tomorrow, today he had to finish a request from a client. He peeked at her activities in the first hours, she had checked out Rika's laptop or unpacking some stuff. Confirming that she wasn't up to no good 7, concentrated all his focus on the code before him.

It's hours later, when 7 finally leans back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head, groaning at the satisfying pop in his spine. He takes a second to take of his glasses and rubs his eyes. More sleep can now be added to his schedule for the time being. First things first however, he brings up the CCTV view.

The hallway was empty, light up by the lights. However, the living room was not as empty as he had expected. Sitting there on the couch, with a blankets draped over her shoulders, an arm leaning on the leg propped up on the couch was Roxanne. Her fingers playing with her hair, as the screen of her laptop, placed on the coffee table lit up her face in the dark room.

The rest of her day was uneventful. Once done unpacking, Roxanne had sat down to work on university assignments. It was late into the night when she switched tasks, having made good progress with her work. There were only a few articles in regards to the RFA, mostly about their parties and for each member separately. Most articles were about the son of the CEO of C&R, Jumin Han. Magazines, photos, company conquests, his accomplishments littered the search engine. Of course when it came to Luciel, nothing popped up, well not in regards to the person not even RFA.

Roxanne pouted at the screen, more info about him would have been nice. So far her research had shown the RFA to be... decent people, with the wild card of 7. A sigh leaves her lips and her fingers itched. The unconventional way would give her more info, her lip curled up. She would get caught by 7, but how long would it take him. It was the same reason she did not hack into SKY universities data to find out more about Yoosung. He would probably notice suspicious activity using the apartments Wi-Fi. Roxanne was by no means stupid, she knew how to hide her traces, but was it worth it at the moment.

No.

Instead she turns her attention back to the article about RFA's last fund raiser.

She jolts as the silent air as her phone slices apart her silence. In her scramble to reach it, she knocked it off the couch and onto the floor. She throws herself onto the floor, hips still hanging on the couch, legs hanging above the bed.

"Gotcha!" She breaths out before answering, and she is greeted with laughter.

"Hello~" the caller said between his laughter, "God 707 is calling! Give your code to speak to the Defender of Justice!"

Roxanne looked up towards the camera before propping her head up on her hand. She hums out in response for a second.

"Agent 606 requesting the humble god whos spying on her to hear her words."

She earns another chuckles in response, "wait shouldn't you be giving me the code since you called me?"

The blanket slips of the couch onto the floor as Roxanne shifts and sits on her legs, facing the camera.

"Oh! You're right! You're code, what's your code... ah I know! Defender of justice save me from this lonely night!"

He was ridiculous, never the less Roxanne chuckled shaking her head.

"Wrong!" She replies with a grin and a sing son "it's don't spy on me in the middle of the night."

This earned her a laugh.

"But the defender of justice needs to make sure you are safe!" He pauses and clears his throat, "I glanced after finishing my work and I noticed you were still awake, I made the right choice in calling you."

"Did you now?"

"I got to see the unique way you pick up your phone! Do you pick it up like that every time, or is it unique each time?"

"I don't know, try calling more often and you might find out." Once more she hears him chuckle, "you know this is unfair 7."

"What is?"

"You can see me but I can't see you."

"Ah! That's because that's my role in the RFA, I am the cool mysterious defender of justice."

"You are so cool." Roxanne replies voice dripping with sarcasm as she grins at the camera. A loud, over exaugurated gasp comes from the other end.

"You wound me!"

"So, seven, oh cool and mysterious defender of justice. What information about me prompted you to call me?"

"Oh? Information. Nothing yet, is there something you think I'd call you about."

Roxanne pauses, shifting on the floor and getting to her feet.

"Yea, at the age of 5 I hacked into NASA and stole a rocket ship. You know usual 5 year old hobbies."

"Well it's not hard to believe considering your grades. Top of the class, straight A's. Nice picture! Hmmm, and your last Cyber security class performed amazingly, should I be worried?"

"Awww, is God 7 feeling threatened by the simple IT student."

"A smart man always knows not to underestimate their opponents!"

"I guess things are only getting intere-" she was interrupted by a loud yawn causing her to glance the lock on her laptop. "We should try and get some sleep tonight 7"

"This isn't over Roxanne."

She chuckles.

"Of course not, good night 7."

With that she waved at the camera.

"Good night! Pleasant dreams."

And with that she hung up.

Once more she returned to the couch and pulls up the blanket. The bedroom door loomed before her, closed. The room was smaller, unknown. The living room was open, breathable, and less constricting. Roxanne fluffs her pillow as she settles in for the night, her mind whirling around information about the RFA.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not be copy pasting chats that exist in the game :) however I will occasionally add in some chat rooms that occur outside of the game :) Hope you enjoy the chapter, it focuses on a little Roxanne and Jaehee bonding ^^

Roxanne spent most of the weekend settling in, buying groceries, university work and of course visiting the RFA chat room. She was starting to see who each of these people were and how vastly different they are from each other.

Zen was online most often during the weekend. Yoosung popped in from time to time, but always ended up leaving quickly to play LoLoL. Jaehee and Jumin were at the office the whole weekend. 707 popped in once a couple of times late at night. And V, well V made no further appearance.

Zen had entertained her during her down time on the weekend, when she took a break from her assignment. Despite his obsession with his own looks he showed interest in her homework, despite not being able to completely grasp what she was doing, Roxanne was glad he at least tried. 

Roxanne was leaving campus when her eyes landed on the building up ahead. The C&R building, she knew it was close by but never thought too much about it. She gnawed on her lower lip. They couldn't come to her apartment, but she could pop by and say hello.

Roxanne headed to her favorite coffee shop close by, luckily it was on her way to the C&R building. As she waited in line she took a long look at the menu, now what type of coffee would Jumin and Jaehee like? Or would she be imposing? Would her gesture be unwelcomed?

A sighs escapes her lips as she adjusts her bag on her shoulders. No, she would deliver the coffee, and leave immediately and not interrupt their work. She ordered three coffees to go, a double espresso for Jumin and a caramel Ice Coffee for both her and Jaehee.

Roxanne kept her pace brisk to the building, not wanting the ice coffee to heat up and espresso to cool down. The moment she entered the building she paused, once more shifting her bag as her fingers tightened on the to go bag. People in various suits passed by her, on the light blue carpet. The walls were a bright white, with various large paintings. A few workers shot her a couple of looks. Combat boots, black skirt and green hood were not part od the dress code here it seemed.

"Hello!" From the reception desk a woman with a ponytail waved towards Roxanne, offering a warm smile as she waved her over. She speaks up once Roxanne approaches her desk, "how can I help you?"

"I am looking Jumin and Jaehee."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Ummm, no, not at all." Roxanne chuckles and lifts up the to go bag, "I just wanted drop off some coffee for them, from a friend."

"Give me one second," the reception says before taking the phone into her hands, "what is your name?"

"Roxanne."

Its a couple of seconds before the receptionist spoke once.

"Hello Jaehee, there is someone here for you. Her name is Roxanne... mhmm, I will tell her. Good bye." With the she hung up, "Jaehee will be down in a minute, please wait here."

It barely takes a minute, before a woman whom Roxanne recognized from pictures alone approached her. Jaehee paused in front of Roxanne, her eyes scanning her up and down, before she offered a smile.

"Surprise!" Roxanne says with a smile.

"It is a surprise indeed, it's nice to meet you." Jaehee was formal, yet her voice held a very pleasant tone, accompanied with a small yet kind smile.

"It's nice to meet you too outside the chat." Roxanne replies, mirroring her smile. "I brought some coffee for you and Jumin."

Jaehee's smile disappeared and her eyes widened.

"Oh! That's very kind of you! Come follow me." Once more there was a smile on her lips as she gestured Roxanne to follow her towards the elevators.

"I finished classes, and I know you and Jumin were working all weekend. And if I'm honest I was looking for an excuse to meet someone from the chat." Roxanne admitted, using her free hand to scratch the back of her neck.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about meeting you as well. Oh, let me take that." Jaehee takes the bag from Roxanne as the elevator doors open and they enter. Jaehee, presses the button for one of the top floors. "This must all be strange for you."

"A little bit, but it's nice to talk to someone outside the university."

"Have you settled into the apartment?"

"Mostly yes, it still feels a bit... strange. But I've only been there for a couple of days. Not to mention the Cameras."

"The cameras? Oh, Luciel's cameras. Hopefully, he's not being too troublesome with that."

"Oh no, not at all. It's just weird knowing it's there." Yet it hadn't prevented her from sleeping on the couch. "It is quieter than the dorms so that's an advantage. I can work on my assignments in peace."

"How are your studies going?"

"Pretty good, I'm surprised 7 didn't tell you all my grades.

"He wouldn't do that." There's a crease between Jaehee's eyebrows, "Luciel, wouldn't hand out your information like that. He'll just tell us you're safe, but nothing more."

"That's good to know. I didn't mean any disrespect."

"I understand your apprehension." Jaehee offers her a kind smile which she returns.

"So what are your plans after?"

A chuckle escape Roxanne as they exit the elevator.

"No idea. I'll figure it out then, you never know what might happen."

"That is a relaxed way of looking at it."

"I guess. I don't know, I'm focused on finishing my studies that worry comes after. No need to pile on more unneeded stress."

"That is a good point, stress isn't healthy."

They reached the end of the hallway, and Jaehee knocked.

"Come in." A voice called out calmly from inside.

The office was spacious, decorated in several shades of blue, white and black. A deep blue couch sat looking at the window revealing the city below them. In the center a large dark desk was placed, and a man with dark hair and a three-piece suit. His grey eyes immediately flickered to the newcomer.

"Hello Jumin." Roxanne greets him first offering a little wave with a smile. His eyes immediately widened before he gracefully got out of his seat.

"Hello Roxanne," he says as he rounds the table and shakes her hand. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"I hope I am not intruding, I just wanted to bring you and Jaehee some coffee."

Jaehee was already at Jumins table, setting, taking out the three coffees and setting them down.

"Not at all, you are lucky that today is a calmer day regarding meetings. In fact, I am glad you came. Jaehee and I were discussing potential guests, you can discuss them with Jaehee."

"That would be nice, I'd need to check my time table." Jaehee replied handing Jumin and Roxanne their coffee.

"Thank you," Roxanne thanked her.

"Oh no need, you can go right now." Jumin said before sipping her coffee.

"Yes but the reports from yesterday’s clients." Jaehee began to say.

"Can wait." Jumun coolly finished for her, "I'll make sure you can havr some time now to discuss guests with Roxanne.

The phone on the desk began to ring cause Jumin to let out a small sigh.

"I'm sorry I cannot talk for longer." He said before heading towards his desk.

Roxanne offer a wave good bye as Jaehee ushers her out, both with a coffee in hand and a folder in Jaehee's free hand.

"There's a sitting area outside." Jaehee suggests.

"That sounds nice, I'm sure you can use some fresh air."

They take a seat at a small picnic table, in the vast garden that belonged to the company. Roxanne hums out happily as she takes a sip of her coffee.  
“I hope it’s not to sweet for you, I wasn’t sure what kind of coffee you like.” Roxanne says with a smile.  
“Don’t worry about it. I like all kinds of coffees.” Jaehee replies before taking a sip of her own. “Oh, this is nice. Where did you get it?”

“There is a small café by the university called Stars Coffee. They have all sorts of options. I think they have a menu online, if you want me to bring you something specific.” 

“You don’t have to bother yourself with that.”  
“It’s really no problem, I know you are very busy so I’m sure you could use some coffee.”  
Jaehee chuckles quietly as she tucks a stray hair back, “I will take a look at the menu.” Roxanne beams at her. “So, shall we look at guest list Jumin has made.”  
“Yes of course.”  
With that the two women got to work, they went through each potential guest, Jaehee explaining each one and offering some pointers on how to approach them. Some of the names had a blue highlight, identifying past guests. All too soon, Jaehee’s phone goes off.  
“I have a meeting in 15 minutes.:” She comments as she turns off the alarm.  
“Thank you for the help.” Roxanne says offering her a smile and getting one in return. Jaehee shuts the file and hands it to Roxanne.  
“If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will try to help you as best as I can.”  
“Maybe next time we can go to a Café.” Roxanne suggests.  
“I would like that,” Her smile falters, “I am not sure if I would have enough time however.”  
“Well, if you ever do have an opening. I am usually close by, we can try out a new café that opened up around here, I heard they make special shapes out of foam and have cinnamon with edible gold!”  
“Oh! I did hear about it! I do hope to visit it someday.”  
“Well, if you want company when you do. Hit me up.”  
“I will.” Jaehee says with a smile that could light up the darkest room. They both gathered their things and walked together to the entrance of the building.  
“I’d offer to have one of Jumin’s drivers drop you off, but we don’t know the address.” Jaehee says with an apologetic look.  
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind taking the bus, I get to listen to my music and chill, and catch up on what happened in the chatroom.”  
“Travel safely Roxanne.”  
“Good luck with work!”  
Roxanne offered a wave before she headed towards the bus stop. As she approaches the closest one, she slows down. Gnawing on her lower lip, she glances around before speeding up to one bus stop earlier closer to her uni. Roxanne positions herself where she was standing on the day, she had gotten the app. Taking out her phone she took a few photos of her surroundings, right as she finished the bus rolled up and she got in. The moment she sat down she entered the RFA chatroom. Good 707 was online, along with Zen.

Roxanne has entered the chat  
Roxanne: Hey guys!  
Zen: Hey hey!  
707: Roxanne ~

Roxanne: Before I forget. 7, when I got the initial messaged from unknown, I was on the bus stop on Sky Lane Road. I was waiting for the bus.  
Roxanne: This may sound ridiculous, so I did not bring it up before but I did feel like I was being watched.  
Roxanne: I took a few shoots of places I could see from my position; I don’t know if it helps. But I know there are a few cameras in some of the convenience stores close by.  
Roxanne: I hope it helps :)  
707: Oh~ Don’t worry it’s not stupid if your gut feeling told you this. I’ll check it out to see if I can dig some more info out~  
707: Don’t be afraid Roxanne ~ 707 will take care of this!  
Roxanne: Thank you, oh amazing defender of justice!  
Zen: ahh being watched! Sounds creepy!  
Zen: Are you home?  
Roxanne: No, not yet. Heading there now, I had coffee with Jaehee :)  
Zen: Do you feel like anyone’s watching you right now?  
Roxanne: No? Well maybe 707 :P I have a feeling he knows how to… gain access to any camera on the street.  
707: I would never do such a thing, I am an innocent angel  
Zen: Make sure to tell us when you arrive safely Roxanne!  
Zen: 7, I doubt you are anything but innocent.  
707: Zen, why must you break my heart like this!? 

Roxanne couldn’t help but smile at her Phone.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of a filler. Just some moments that happen. They seem a bit disconnected but I did not want to separate it into different chapters. I just needed these moments to continue setting things up :)   
> I really struggled finishing this chapter, so I hope the next chapter will come quicker :)

Roxanne hummed to herself as she prepared herself some noodles. Her hips swaying to her melody as she poured the boiling water. Each step was lightweight, the sun was shining, and the noodles smelt good. Finally, she had met someone from the RFA. While she barely interacted with Jumin, her chat with Jaehee put a spring in her step. It was weird. but something about the RFA and what she had seen so far made her feel, safe. Strange as it was to say.  
  
It was stupid, she had barely gotten to know them. However, she was happier, happier than she has been in months. They were a small group, a small intimate group, that genuinely seemed to care about each other. Even her, despite her unusual circumstance, they had accepted her into their small group and made her feel as if she had belonged there from the start. She would be damned if she failed them.  
  
Taking her food, she set it up on the dining table. The laptop was already there, the file given by Jaehee placed next to it. As she ate with her left hand, using her right she flipped open the page. While she ate, she input the information into her laptop in the file she had set up for the party.  
  
There was a list of themes, corresponding colors, music and so on. The party venue was set already, the C&R had a special hall for these sorts of events. Maybe next time she visits, she can ask Jaehee to show the room to her.  
  
  
It's late into the night when she logs into her LoLoL account. To no surprise she saw Yoosung online, she had added him a couple of days ago. On queue she receives a message from him asking if she wanted to play. Roxanne put on her headphones aa she joined his lobby, a smile appearing on her lips as Yoosungs cheerful voice greeted her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Roxanne was staring at her screen fingers flying across the keyboard. The teachers voice booms in the room as he explains an algorithm.  
Not the she was paying attention, no instead she had a page open researching one of the potential guests. Online research easy to do, but she wanted more of an edge. Some of the mails were weird and replying to them was tricky business. So yes, she was hacking. Nothing major, just small hints how to correspond. She couldn't do it at home, despite her programming knowledge she was smart enough to realize that 7 would catch her hacking from the apartment. She already knew this algorithm anyway, so no need to pay attention. She's finished replying to the last set of emails by the time the class is over.  
  
The midday sun is warm on her face, as Roxanne makes her way across campus. She has a donut in one hand and her phone in the other. A smile graces her lips, as she follows a chat between Jaehee and Zen. Lifting her gaze up she looks for a place to sit, and that’s when she sees it.  
  
A tuft of blonde hair, flopped down on a pastel blue bag. Roxanne, slowly approaches the sleeping figure, tilting her head to the side she catches a glimpse of his face and the LOLOL badge on his backpack. Roxanne covers her mouth with her hand as she tries to stifle a chuck. She takes another bite of her donut as she snaps a photo of the sleeping Yoosung.  
Sitting down across from him, Roxanne once more opens the chat.  
  
 _Roxanne: Look who I just found!_  
  
And she sends the photo.  
  
 _Jaehee: looks like he was too busy playing LOLOL to sleep last night._  
  
 _Zen: That boy..._  
  
Roxanne had just finished demolishing her donut when the blond shifted, raising his head rubbing his eyes with his left hand. His face was softer than it looked in the photos, younger and more disheveled. The dark shadows under his eyes cause her to bite her tongue for a moment, before his large lilac eyes landed on her.  
"Good morning." Roxanne says with a smile, delight glimmers in her eyes as Yoosung blinks in her direction. He rubs his eyes again before grinning, and Roxanne can't help but smile wider at him.  
  
"Roxanne!" He says, "how did you find me?"  
  
"I hacked your phone and tracked you." She replies setting the phone down on the table. His eyes flicker between it and her face.  
  
"Wait really?! Are you also an agent like Seven?!" He asks, lowering his voice to a whisper at the end. Roxanne chuckles shaking her head.  
  
"I'm kidding, I was just lucky and happened to see you."  
  


"What are you doing here?!"

  
  
"Yoosung, I'm also a student remember. I study here. "  
  
"Oh right! Silly me! Oh, that means we can hang outside the chat room."  
  
"Yes, not just in LOLOL. I guess you'll just have to show up for more classes if you want to hang with me." Yoosung drops his head on his backpack again with a groan, "What are you studying anyway?"  
  
"It doesn't matter. You?"  
  
"Computer Science specifically the Cyber Security track, and it does."  
  
"Wait," Yoosung lifts his head up, "so you can hack my phone?"  
  
"Sure." Yoosung's eyes widen, "what are you hiding sweet little Yoosung?"  
  
"No-nothing!" His cheeks a light rosy color as Roxanne chuckles at him.  
  
"Seven's right, you are fun to tease."  
  
"Seven's a bad influence is what he is." Yoosung grumbles as he pulls his backpack into his lap, hugging it to his chest as he pouts at her.  
  
Roxanne chuckled, before resting her chin on her fist as she looks at him. The faint blush on his cheeks, the white eyes barely hidden under the blonde tousle of hair, it tugged at her heart. She just wanted to reach over and ruffle his hair with a smile, and tell him to get some sleep.  
  
"You didn't answer my question." Roxanne says.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"What are you studying?"  
  
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you. I'm doing veterinary studies."  
  
"Oh wow, that's pretty cool. How come you decided to go for that? Did you have a pet when you were younger or..."  
  
"I didn't, Rika did. A good dog, and her passing was hard to I decided to try being a vet." Yoosung replies, eyes focusing on the strap of the bag he was fiddling with. "And you, how come you went for computer science?"  
  
"I discovered I liked coding when I was younger, and well I still like it now."  
  
"No wonder you and Seven get along so well. I guess you programmers have brains that function differently."  
  
Roxanne chuckles, "I guess we do."  
  
That's when the bell interrupted, signaling they had 5 minutes till the next class.  
  
"I have to go," Yoosung says as they both get up, grabbing their bags. "You up for lunch again tomorrow?"  
  
"Meet me here again?" Roxanne says with a smile and watches as his face lights up.  
  
"Yes! See you tomorrow!" He says before running off.  
  
That night the chat is full, with everyone but V was online. Zen was complaining how he still had yet to meet Roxanne. Yoosung was making this worse by bragging, for once he could tease someone. Even Jumin brought up that him and Jaehee had met her. Jaehee was the only one to remind him that Seven hadn't met her yet either. Seven of course, could not keep silent and pointed out that he could see Roxanne through the cameras.  
  
Roxanne made sure to look at the cameras and stick her tongue out at him.

_707: I can see how rude Roxanne can be._

_Zen: Rude?_   
  
_707: She's being mean to me T_T_   
  
_"You big baby." Roxanne mutters to herself._   
  
_707: I can see you talking to yourself! What did you say?!_   
  
_Roxanne: Can't tell you. I have to have my own secrets ;)_   
  
_707: Ooooh~ now I have to know._   
  
_Yoosung: Roxanne if you break the cameras I'd totally understand._   
  
_Zen: Roxanne, do you want to meet me?_   
  
_Roxanne: Of course! I want to meet everyone from the RFA._   
  
_Jumin: we never really did have a welcome party to celebrate you joining the RFA._   
  
_Yoosung: WE SHOULF HAVE A PARTY!_   
  
_Zen: Would it really be considered a part with 7 people._   
  
_Yoosung: I think you mean 6, I don't think V would join._   
  
_Jaehee: whatever we do we should still invite him._   
  
_Jumin: Maybe not a party, but a nice dinner all together. I can make the reservations. Luciel when does it work for you?_   
  
_707: Uuuugh~ schedule is kind of tight for me_   
  
_Jaehee: maybe we can work around it?_   
  
_Roxanne: Dinner sounds nice :) It would really be nice to meet Zen and Seven too._   
  
_Roxanne: It would be a shame if either can't make it :(_

  
Roxanne can't help but momentarily glance at the camera again. Her phone buzzed.

  
  
_Zen: I'll always make time for you Roxanne~_   
  
_Yoosung: Please don't spend the whole dinner hogging her attention and flirting with her Zen -_-_   
  
_707: I might be available for a couple of hours, between deadlines. Jumin, I'll get back to you ~_

  
  
The chat was buzzing with excitement as they discussed the dinner. Jumin of course, offered to take care of everything in regards to choice of restaurant reservations.  
  
It was late when Roxanne stretches and hums. She looks at the couch before cracking her back. Maybe, just maybe she would give the bed a chance. After all she did put on new clean sheets this morning. Before turning the lights off in the main room, she waves towards the camera with a smile and then ducks into the bedroom.  
  
She strips down to her t-shirt, and turning the lights off, Roxanne settles in for the night.  
  
 _The light flickers, for a moment. She sees it the table and then darkness again. Her wrists chafe with every movement. A cracked sob escapes her lips as she slams her back into the chair. A sharp pain tingles on her lips, a warm liquid spreading down. There's a banging noise in the distance, and light coming closer. She twists her wrists, faster and faster. Jolts of pain shoot as the light grows bigger and the shadow behind it overwhelms her._  
  
"No!" The loud yell escapes her lips as she jolts up in her bed. Her shirt sticking to her sweat slicked skin. The moment her eyes focus in on the room, it shifts and tilts. Roxanne scrambles to her feet, almost tripping over the blankets wrapped around her ankles. She barrels through the bathroom door, pain shooting through her knees as they slam down onto the bathroom floor and she empties her stomach into the toilet.  
  
Her knuckles turn white as she grips the bowl, eyes clenched shut as the tears escape. By the time she's done heaving her hands are shaking. Slowly, she pulls herself to her feet, step by step she washes her hands, brushes her teeth and washes her face. Every breath she counts to five, as she tries to push away the panic scratching down her spine.  
  
Water, she needs water. Quickly, she grabs her phone from the bedroom and a blanket. She drops the blanket on the couch, before preparing the kettle and pouring herself a cup of water. Roxanne's body jerks as outside a car honks. The glass from her hand shatters on the floor.  
"Fuck!" She yells before rubbing her hands on her face. She wasn't wearing slippers, "shit!"  
  
No point in only cursing, she starts to pick up the glass. But the night was not kind to her. Or maybe it was luck that she was holding one large piece of glass, when her hand folded into a fist as she focused on the glasses on the floor, her mind a hazy mess. Roxanne inhales sharply getting to her feet as she holds her wrist with her other.  
  
 _Breath. Breath. Breath._  
  
She takes in a deep breath, staring at the red pooling in her wrist.

A vibrating noise gets her attention. Without thinking, she takes the phone and answers it on speaker phone.

  
  
"707 ~ Defender of Justice is here to help you! Bzzt bzzt he senses a first aid kit in the cupboard under the sink, and tools to safely clean up glass." Roxanne pauses her eyes looking up at the Camera, "God Seven recommends you stop the bleeding quickly."  
  
"Yes, good idea." Roxanne replies before exhaling deeply. She locates the small first aid kit, making sure to avoid the glass, and settles on the couch. "Thank you, God 7."  
  
"Is the cut deep?" He asks from the phone.  
  
"What?! can't see it that well using your camera's," Roxanne replies as she prepares to clean her hand. "I expected better from the defender or justice."  
  
"Ah! I do apologize! I will work harder at becoming better!" Roxanne chuckles, her shoulders relaxing as his voice booms into the empty apartment. "Look at that! I'm already making up for it by making you laugh!"  
  
Roxanne smiles, before flinching as she cleans her hand.  
  
"Now, if you can somehow make the glass magically disappear. Well… you'd be immediately forgiven."  
  
"Hmmm~ well I do know of a magic item that’s perfect for it!"  
  
"Well don't keep me waiting~" she replies in a sing song voice as she wraps her hand.  
  
"Drumroll please!" Roxanne looks at him at the camera motioning to her hand, "oh right, hahaha. Well it's called a vacuum cleaner!"  
  
Roxanne laughs shaking her head.  
  
"God seven, would it be sinful of me if I just left it for the morning?" As she asks she shuffles onto the couch pulling the blanket over her.  
  
"Hmmm, let me think about it. I'll forgive it just this once!"  
  
“I’m glad, because I just really can’t be bothered to clean it up right now.” She says as she gets a new glass of water, making sure to avoid the glass on the floor.

“Are you okay?” His voice was calmer, for a moment the playful edge is gone.

“Yea, yea. Bad dream, no big deal. They just aren’t always pleasant.” She forces a laugh before continuing, “I should get some sleep.”

There is a moment of silence before Seven replies.

“Yea, you should probably get some sleep. And don’t forget to eat a healthy breakfast!”

Roxanne smiles as she settles down on the couch, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

  
"Good Night, oh amazing defender of justice."  
  
"Good night Roxanne!"  
  


She hangs up and offers one last wave to the camera, before nuzzling in to the pillow.   
  
In the morning, before getting off the couch she checks her phone. Seven had texted her barely an hour ago.  
  
"Make sure to wear slippers when you wake up ~"  
  
She quickly responds.  
  
"Thank you~~ make sure you get some sleep and a proper meal!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!  
> So sorry for the long wait! I still have to reply to some comments as well, which really motivated me to get this finished. I had a chapter ready, but I felt like some event happened too soon so I delayed it and had to reorganize some events.   
> I wanted to spend some time focusing on Roxanne (MC) bonding with different members of the RFA. I I apologize for any errors I wanted to upload this ASAP, so I did not spend as much time editing.   
> Hope you enjoy it! :D

Roxanne places her laptop in her bag, humming to herself as she mentally rehashes her program. Eyebrows furrowing as a new way to optimize it pops in her mind. She pauses, and taps the table for a moment. Her laptop was packed along with the charger and mouse. Was it worth it? Her phone buzzes beside her hand, on it Zen's face lights up.  
  
Roxanne grabbed her phone and turned on the balls of her feet, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she answers.  
"One second Zen." She whispers as she adjusts her bag and attaches her headphones into the audio jack. "Just a little more." Once more she whispers as she hurries out of the university library.  
"Okay, I can talk now!"  
  
Zen chuckles, "Hey babe, hope I didn't interrupt anything important."  
  
"Oh, I was just leaving the library and heading home. What's up?" Roxanne says with a smile on her face as she heads to the bus stop.  
  
"Oh studying hard, that’s good. I just arrived home from rehearsals."  
  
"How did they go?"  
  
"Pretty good, I think. Memorized most of the lines, the choreography still needs some work but that comes with practice."  
  
"I hope I get to see you live soon. I know Jaehee is also looking forward to your next performance."  
  
"Hmm, maybe I can get you guys some tickets. That's not why I called." Roxanne hums and enters the bus heading for the empty back area. "I was just thinking, it's unfair you met everyone else from the RFA."  
  
"Well not everyone."  
  
"You still haven't met me."  
  
Roxanne chuckles, "are you jealous Zen?"  
  
"Yes, we should all get to meet you. And that group dinner keeps getting postpones."  
  
This was true, with all the RFA's differing schedules it was problematic getting everyone together, especially Seven.  
  
"Yea, it's really unfortunate. So what did you have in mind Zen?"  
  
She could practically hear Zen's smile through the phone.  
  
"The cast members are having a Halloween party last minute. I'm allowed to invite a couple of friends. Jaehee can't make it and neither can Jumin," his voice sours at the male's name, "Yoosung agreed to go and Seven-"  
  
"Is too busy?"  
  
"Yup, so sound fun to you?"  
  
"Is it a costume party?"  
  
"Of course! It's Halloween."  
"I'm not usually a big fan of big parties... but costumes sound like fun."  
  
"Come on say yes, I know you want to say yes."  
  
"I do," Roxanne chuckles. "But I don't have a costume, do you know any good places to get one?"  
  
"I have a solution for you! I'm still trying to decide what to wear and so is Yoosung. I know a great place; it's owned by the woman who supplied costumes for some of my plays. You free tomorrow?"  
  
"I do have some classes and a group meeting but most of them are in the morning and early afternoon... I'm free after three!"  
  
"I can pick you up at the University?"  
  
"Really that would be great!"  
  
"Just one question, how do you feel about motorbikes?"  
  
Roxanne pauses and grins.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Class had let out earlier than expected, so Roxanne headed out and perched herself on a railing with her headphones on. She opened up the RFA chat.  
  
 **Roxanne has entered the Chatroom**  
  
 **707: Roxanne! Quick I need a distraction!**  
 **Roxanne: we can technically always see our nose but our brain blocks it out!**  
  
 **707: Damn! Now all I can focus on is my nose!**  
  
 **707: THANK YOU!**  
  
 **Roxanne: Always happy to help :)**  
  
 **707: Aren't you supposed to be costume shopping?**  
  
 **Roxanne: Waiting for Zen to pick me up.**  
  
 **707: You don't have your own car?**  
  
 **Roxanne: I'm a student, I can't afford to have 4 cars like SOME people :P**  
  
 **Roxanne: I am not as great as GOD 707!**  
  
 **Roxanne: Oh!**  
  
 **Roxanne: I think I see someone on a motorbike. Talk to you later Amazing Defender Of Justice!**  
  
 **Roxanne has left the chat**  
  
Indeed the biker she saw slowed down stopping on the sidewalk as Roxanne pockets her phone and hops of the railing. The biker takes of the helmet, shaking his silver white hair. Roxanne had to admit, the selfies he took did no justice to this mans beauty. He was tall and slender, with strong shoulders and the tight leather jacket and jeans only showed off his form. A few passerby’s stopped and whispered as they noticed him. One pair of young girls even stopped and giggled before bounding up to him. Roxanne can't help but chuckles as they strike up a conversation with him. She slowly approaches them, as Zen signs an autograph for them both in notebooks. For a moment her glances up, with his sharp red eyes. She smiles, when he does, he quickly finishes up and bids good bye to the girls before strutting over to her.  
  
"Roxanne!" He exclaims before pulling her into a hug, Roxanne chuckles returning the hug. Zen pulls back leaving his hands on her shoulder. "You are even more beautiful in person!"  
  
"I can say the same for you." Roxanne chuckles, her eyes flicker towards his bike as she grins, "however I think your bike might be prettier."  
  
An overexaggerated gasp leaves Zen as she side steps him to take a look at the sleek black motorbike.  
  
"You wound me babe." Zen says as he approaches.  
  
"Okay but look at it! It's gorgeous!" Roxanne twirls to look at him again with a smile on her face as he pouts at her. "Wow you're even handsome when you pout, so unfair." A wide grin spreads across his face. Behind him several more girls pass by pointing at him and whispering. "We should go. Before the whole campus gather around here."  
  
Zen looks behind him and chuckles.  
"You are right but first," he approaches bike, popping open the seat and pulling out a second helmet. "I always have a spare. Not that I've made much use of it. Let me."  
  
Gently his hands push the hair behind her ears. Roxanne freezes for a moment, before her shoulders relax.  
  
"I know how to put on a helmet." She says with a lopsided smile and crossing her arms over her chest. Nevertheless, she makes no other movement to stop him. He puts the helmet onto her head and fiddles on the straps for a moment before stepping back.  
  
"All good?" He asks and Roxanne shakes her head.  
  
"Yup, good fit!"  
  
"It looks good on you." Zen says as he puts on his own helmet and settles himself on the bike, Roxanne follows suite. "Ready?"  
  
Roxanne flicks down her visor and wraps her arms around his waist. "Ready."  
  
With that Zen revved the motor and they were off. After a couple of minutes her grip on him loosened and she sits up slightly, watching the city pass by. After a while they arrive at their destination, Zen slows down pulling into a parking lot. Once still, Roxanne swings her legs of the bike, skipping one step away to take of her helmet.  
  
"That was amazing!" She says as she hands Zen the helmet, he smiles at her.  
  
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." He responds popping both helmets in the trunk under the seat.  
  
"I hope in the future to own one of these bad boys." Roxanne taps the seat of the bike.  
  
"Well until then, you are welcome to join me on rides."  
  
"That is an offer I will take you up on."  
  
They smile at each other as Roxanne pulls out her phone, dialing Yoosung. He picks up almost immediately.  
  
"Roxanne, almost there! The bus from my house was a little late, sorry."  
  
"Okay, we will wait by the bus stop then." Roxanne says as she looks at Zen who nods in confirmation.  
  
"Okay see you in a few!"  
  
With that he hangs up. The two of them head to the bus stop leaning against it.  
  
"So," Zen begins as he fiddles with his lighter. "How are you enjoying the RFA?"  
  
"Oh, well it's... been fun honestly. You guys are so..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Roxanne chuckles, "interesting? Is that the word I'm looking for? You guys have been very welcoming. I just hope V gets back with the date soon. Contacting the guests will get more difficult if I can’t tell them the date of the party.”

“I’m sure he’ll get back to us soon. He’s probably trying to get some photos for the event. This is good, hopefully it will take his mind of, of Rika.”

Roxanne nibble on her lower lip and tugs at her leather jackets sleeve.

“You were close with Rika too?”

“Yea, we all had our own story with her. She recruited each of us into the RFA.”

“So, what’s your story?”

“My story?” Zen asks before stretching his arms, “It’s not that interesting. No hackers involved.” He chuckles before continuing, “Rika was a fan of mine actually, when I was a complete no-name. During one of my performances, she approached me with a bouquet of flowers.” He smiles and looks at the sky, “That’s how I met V too. He even saved my life you know?”

“Really?”

“Yea, I had an accident on my motorbike, he found me and took, me to the hospital.”

“I’m glad you made it, please do be careful.”

Zen grins and looks at Roxanne, placing a hand on his chest.

“Aw, Roxanne are you worried about me?”

Roxanne looks up at him and smiles.

“What can I say, it seems like the members of the RFA have grown on me.”

At that moment the bus pulls in, Yoosung is the first out to step out. Immediately, he sees them and rushes over to the with a bounce in his step.

“Sorry, I’m late.” He says as he releases her, “Hope you guys weren’t waiting too long.”

“Not at all, I got to talk to our lovely Roxanne.” Zen says, placing one arm around her shoulders causing her to chuckle.

“You guys can call me Roxy, by the way. I don’t think I ever mentioned it in chat.” She says as she steps away from the bus stop, “Well then Zen, lead the way to our destination.”

The three of them walk together side in side, Roxanne placed in the middle. Yoosung chattered away, talking about the events of last nights LOLOL matches as Zen chastised him for staying up so late and missing classes. Roxanne, told them about her day, an assignment she handed in, the class she had that day, nothing to special. The whole walk she had a smile on her face as they bounced topics. Finally, they arrive their destination.

Zen walks in with a confident stride, greeting the shop owner with his award-winning smile. The woman’s seriously face immediately lightened up, revealing the crows’ feet by her eyes as she beamed at him. Her outfit was an ensemble of colors, her many earrings jingled as she approached to shake Zen’s hand.

The rest of they day the spend browsing through the different costumes. Roxanne is the first to try out an elaborate witch outfit. She exits the dressing room with an over exaggerated twirl, almost flinging off the massive pointed hat on her head. She catches it last second with a chuckle. They spend over a good hour, trying on different outfits and commenting on them. They finally decide to go with a similar theme. Pirates.

Roxanne leans over the sink gently applying the red lipstick. Her phone lights up on the side. Her hand drops to the sink and she sighs.

Jaehee.

Normally she would have looked forward to chatting with her, however ever since Zen had invited her to the party Jaehee’s primary focus was reminding Roxanne about his reputation.

Her hand hovers over the phone for a moment. Closing her eyes and taking another deep breath Roxanne places Jaehee on speaker phone.

“Hey Jaehee!” She greets her as she returns to finishing up her make up.

“Hello Roxanne, how are you doing?” Jaehee asks.

“Good, just getting ready for the party. Aer you sure you can’t make it tonight?”

A sigh comes from her phone followed by the sound of ruffling papers.

“No, there is a lot of work I have to do.”

“Hang in there Jaehee.”

“Thank you, Roxanne.”

“You sure I can’t kidnap you?”

There is a small laugh from Jaehee followed by a yawn.

“It sure would be interesting to see you try. Plus, when you return me I’ll have even more work.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.”

“Hmmm… Roxanne, I called because I wanted to talk about Zen.” There is it was. Roxanne pulled back from the mirror tugging at a stray green curl from her freshly curled hair. “I just want to make sure that you going to the party sends a message. There will be drinking and I just want you to be careful of your actions. His reputation is very important and if it get’s tarnished his career might be in Jeopardy. You are a lovely person but his career is very-“

“Jaehee,” Roxanne interrupts before taking a deep breath to soften her voice, “I know this, you have told me this already. I do not plan on jeopardizing Zen’s career. He is my friend and he is important to me, all of the RFA are. I’m not going to this party to try and hook up with Zen, I am going to relax with my friends after a week of university and work. I don’t know what I did to give you the impression that I want to destroy Zen’s career.” Roxanne took a deep breath in the following silence and took a moment to pack up her makeup.

“I apologize, Roxanne. I crossed the line. His career is very important to me and I worry.” Her voice was quieter than before.

“It really is a shame you can’t join. Maybe during one of our coffee drinks we can get the other to join us and hopefully we will have that RFA dinner soon.”

“Yes, I look forward to that.”

“I have to go now Jaehee or I’ll be late. Talk to you later, bye!”

“Good bye, Roxanne.:

With that they hung up and Roxanne took one last look in the mirror. She unbuttoned the top 2 buttons of her loose-fitting white blouse before placing the captains hat with an extravagant green feather on her head after sweeping her hair to the side to fall across her right shoulder. Once in the living room she slid on her boots before dialing a taxi service. As she waits for her order to be confirmed her eyes land on the camera in the living room. Seven hadn’t been in the chatroom all day.

Placing the call on speaker she opens her private messages with him.

Roxanne: What’s a pirate’s favorite body part?

Roxanne: The Booty! :D

When she presses send she looks up at the camera. Her phone buzzes.

707: Not sure if I’m overworked or that is a genuinely funny joke because I laughed.

Roxanne: Oh God! TAKE A BREAK DEFENDER OF JUSTICE cause that was a terrible joke!

The camera’s little red light under neath turns on, and Roxanne looks at it and smiles as she waves.

Roxanne: Promise me you’ll take a small break, at least a nap or a shower.

Finally, the taxi service confirms a taxi will come pick her up in a few minutes.

707: Fiiiine, I promise. I can’t say no to a captain, now can I?

Roxanne: That’s right, Captains Orders!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zen had of course almost completely unbuttoned his shirt, even in the cool night air. He had become the embodiment of a pirate and made it look effortless. While Zen was the handsome pirate, fulfilling the rough scallywag who sweeps an innocent princess of her feet trope, Yoosung was the opposite. He was to say the least, adorable. His blond hair ruffled and free from the usual clips it was usually kept in. His smile as he replied to something Zen said lit up the place. No, Roxanne could not believe that Yoosung could be an evil pirate. Roxanne watched them as she approached them, it was as if Yoosung was the younger brother of Zen and Zen was trying to teach him how to be a scallywag.

They saw her, both ceasing in whatever they were discussing and smile. Roxanne felt her heart strings being pulled and she picked up the pace, embracing both when she approached them.

“Now I fee like I should undo more buttons on my shirt,” she comments with a grin towards Zen.

“Oh! Ah, then keep away from men, it might wake the inner beast inside them.”

Roxanne lifts her nose into the air.

“Well tough luck for them, they will just have to control their inner beast.” Roxanne begins to head down the street, “Shall we go boys?”

The party was held in a small theatre, decorated in various items, from silky spider webs hanging of the ceilings, tombstones posing as chairs, skeletons hiding around every corner. The essence of Halloween was emitting from every room. The table of food was stuffed to the brim with various snacks, and same went for the drinks table. To top it all of the guests were all a wide variety of creatures and characters, from pretty fairies to macabre looking Zombies.

The three of them stuck together they were approached by one of Zen’s old co-stars and her group of friends. Roxanne stays quiet, opting to listen more than talk as they discuss previous plays and old coworkers.

“Did you see Choi’s latest campaign?” One of the coworkers asks as the previous conversation dies down.

“Yea, I did. Can he really do that?”

“As president, I’m sure he can.”

As the conversation turns to politics, Roxanne eyes the red colored table of drinks.

“What about Ambassadors Ryou statement?”

With that Roxanne was gone, heading immediately to the table. She pours herself a red colored drink and takes a sip. Sour and sweet at the same time, not bad, she thinks to herself as she licks her lips. It’s barely a minute before she feels a presence.

“Are you alright babe?” Zen asks from beside her as he picks up a beer.

“Yea, not the biggest fan of discussing politics at a party.” Roxanne says with a chuckle as she clinks her drink against Zens, “it’s not exactly a relaxing and de-stressing topic.”

The both move to lean over one of the high tables as the look around the room, close by, Yoosung was in conversation with a couple dressed up as LOLOL characters.

“I knew they’d hit it off.” Zen comments before taking a sip of his drink and Roxanne chuckles. “So, you don’t like discussing politics?”

“Oh no, it’s not that just not in the mood. I just want to relax and have fun right now.”

“Aye, Aye, Captain.” Zen says with a grin, “Are you under a lot of stress at university?”

“Hmm, not really. I mean, it’s a lot of work and I like what I do. It just gets tiring sometimes. Plus, I don’t really go to parties often, this is-“She pauses and takes a sip of her drink, not tonight. “This is the first Halloween party I’ve been to inyears, I don’t want to spend it discussing politics.”

“Fair enough, what do you think of the party so far?”

“It’s nice. I’m glad it’s not too loud or crowded. I don’t have to yell to be heard. I’m really enjoying the decorations, very spooky.”

“How come you didn’t go to Halloween parties the last couple of years?”

“Focused on my studies, did some volunteer work at animal shelters as well, that was my focus school and that. My old roommate did try to convince me to join her a couple of times. I bailed. I actually tried to bail on as many parties as I could.”

“Did you not like your roommate?”

“Oh no! They were cool, I was just…” She shrugs, “Anyway at the start of this school year, I promised myself I’d enjoy myself more. Let myself do more fun things.”

“Maybe, you can convince Jaehee to make the same promise.”

Roxanne chuckles.

“I should yea, and convince Jumin to lay of the work.”

Zen snorts, sipping his beer as he scrunches up his nose.

“I don’t get that man. He has no idea how the world functions, he doesn’t understand that not everyone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth.” Roxanne took a sip of her drink, regretting bringing the topic up. “And he conveniently forgets I’m allergic to cats. It’s like he likes seeing me suffer.”

She places a hand on his shoulder, and Zen looks at her.

“How about aa change of topic?” She asks with a smile, “it’s a party you’re supposed to relax, plus,” she lifts her empty glass and shakes it, “I need a refill.”

Roxanne grabs his arm and drags him back to the drinks table, bombarding him with questions about his next play. He all to happily answers them.

“Sometimes it’s just weird practicing alone. I mean it helps, sometimes I use a mirror. But I can’t really react of my own expressions and tone.” Zen says .

“Why don’t you ask someone to read with you then?” Roxanne asks as she sways with the music.

“Availability can be a problem sometimes.”

“I can help with that, I’m not actress, but maybe I can help?”

Zen’s face light up.

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“Of course, it isn’t, I never have bad ideas.” Roxanne offers him a cocky grin and Zen chuckles, “maybe I can give you some acting tips.”

That’s when Yoosung makes his return, bouncing over to the two of them.

“Where did you two disappear?” He asks placing his beer on the table.

“We didn’t disappear anywhere; we’ve been here the whole time.” Roxanne replies with a smirk.

“It’s not our fault you were to busy discussing that game of yours to notice where we were.”

“In his defense it is a fun game.” Roxanne says offer Yoosung a wink.

“You two are such gaming nerds, can’t believe I’m at a party with nerds.” Yoosung takes a large swing of his beer, and Zen jumps up, “Woah woah, easy there.”

“What?”

Zen turns to Roxanne before saying, “he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.”

“Am not!” Yoosung protests pulling his hand away from Zen.

“I’m not carrying you back home!” Zen crosses his arms over his chest.

“Roxanne! Zen’s being mean to me!”

Roxanne couldn’t help but laugh, and shake her head at the two males. She felt slightly light headed, thanks to the alcohol and maybe something else. The smile never left her face, not as they spent the night chatting and Zen introduced them to several of his friends. As the party started to die down the three of them headed off, in search of greasy fast food. They founds a pizza place a bought more pizzas they could eat. They were quiet a site, three pirates chomping on Pizza and laughing way past midnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first rays of light appear on the horizon when Roxanne is finally able to kick of her boots back at him. She leans slightly balancing the pizza box in her left hand. She hums to herself as she kicks the door closed. She places the pizza on the counter and pulls out her phone. Without thinking she presses call and a pout forms on her lips as she recognizes Sevens voicemail message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven enters exits the bathroom, ruffling his wet hair with a towel. His golden eyes flicker towards the small light flashing on his phone. Dropping the towel around his shoulders he picks up his phone and unlocks it. A smile spreads across his face as he presses re-dial. He waits patiently, for a few seconds before leaning forward and bringing up the CCTV. Immediately hangs up as he sees Roxanne fast asleep on the couch, blankets pulled up to her chin. He sees her shift for a moment, and then roll over and curl up still fast asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this another chapter :O   
> Surprise, I was hit with motivation again.   
> I hope it isn't two OOC i just really like the idea of the MC and 7 having a game like this between them.   
> I hope you enjoy it ^^

_The grey eyes glare at her, rooting her to the spot as the man slowly gets up to his feet. He sways slightly before straightening up, staring down at her. Her eyes flicker to the table next to her, the gun glints in the non exist light of the dark room._

_The man begins to slowly approach her. She takes a step back and her back hits something hard and the walls close in. She steels her shoulders as the man picks up pace, a blade . The table is still there next to her, as he gets closer._

_Green eyes lock on him._

_Closer and closer he gets._

_She takes a deep breath and the last second her hand reaches for the pistol._

_She aims and shoots._

Roxanne’s eyes burst open as the last drops of blood fade from her vision. She takes in, one, two, three deep breaths before sitting up and stretching. Her eyes flicker up towards the bedroom door, it was hidden away in the bedside table.

Coffee, she needed coffee.

As she waits for the water to boil, Roxanne checks the RFA chat. 

Empty.

Damn.

Roxanne gnaws on her lower lip as she opens up her contacts.

Jumin and Jaehee were probably busy working.

Zen was at rehearsals.

Yoosung was definitely playing LOLOL.

And Seven was probably busy with agency stuff.

Funny, how her days all began to start and end with the RFA. She wanted to relax, RFA chatroom, she needed a laugh, RFA chatroom. Even the others had admitted to visiting the chatroom more often than before due to her presence. If she was honest with herself, that made her feel happy.

For the moment she puts her phone down to finish making her coffee. Leaning against the counter top, she contemplated what to do with the rest of her day. She had handed in all her current assignments in the last couple of days, and it was a day off, maybe join Yoosung in LOLOL?

No, she shouldn’t encourage him to spend all day playing LOLOL, while she could afford to do that today, he could not. In fact, he had really started to worry her, he had missed several classes and the number of times he compares her to Rika had been increasing. Soon, she’d have to talk to him, but how to approach such a sensitive subject.

Roxanne walks back to the couch, and sets her coffee down on the coffee table before dialing Seven. After a couple of beeps she hears his booming voice.

“Agent Seven-Oh-Seven reporting for duty! How may I be of service?”

“Heya Seven-Oh-Seven, do you have some time to talk?”

“Yea, sure just give me a minute.”

“No problem,” She puts the phone on speaker phone leaving it in the living as she heads to the bedroom to change out of her pajama’s into leggings and an oversized band t-shirt. She could still hear him clacking away on his keyboard when she returned so she lounged on the couch, researching the potential new guests that had been recently added to the list.

“Okay, that’s done! I can talk now!” Seven finally speaks up.

“Welcome back, I hope I didn’t rush you too much.”

“No worries, I was close to finishing and planning on taking a break anyway. What’s up?”

“It’s about Yoosung.”

“Oh?”

“Yea, I think you’ve noticed but he’s… I feel like he’s kind of trying to replace me with Rika. You know what I mean? That can’t be healthy, can it?” Roxanne bites her tongue, feeling as if she has to physically stop herself from rambling.

“And you think I know what’s healthy? Me? The over-worked, under-slept, hacker, who’s diet mainly consists of Doctor Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips?”

Roxanne can’t help but chuckle.

“At least you are self-aware, and what can I say my standards aren’t very high.”

An over exaggerated gasp comes from her phone.

“Roxy! You wound me!”

“You’re the one who pointed it out!” Roxanne sits up as she counters him, receiving laughter in response. His laughter is infectious and Roxanne can’t help but chuckling as well. Once they had both calmed down Seven speaks up again.

“Yea, I noticed he has been. And no, I don’t think it’s a healthy. He didn’t really handle Rikas death that well.” Roxanne groans and flops back onto the couch.

“I’m not Rika.” She says with a sigh.

“I know, we all know. I think Yoosung just ahs difficult separating you two sometimes.”

“I need to talk to him, don’t I? I just need to figure out how to do it, I don’t want to hurt him, they last thing he needs right now is to be hurt.” Another Sigh, “got any advice defender of justice?”

Seven chuckles.

“I’m not the best person to ask for advice, but since you are asking I guess.. be honest with him.”

“Yea, I thought so too…It’s just nice to know that someone else agrees with it. Thanks Seven, just talking about it helps.”

“Glad I could help.”  
“No I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.”

“No classes?”

“Day off, I handed in all my assignments. Today is technically a free day to work on them but I handed it in early.”

“Is that what you were working on a couple of nights ago when you were in the RFA chat at four am in the morning?”

“Actually yes and know, for my data security class we have some extra curriculum activities and I was just working on those it looked fun.”

“Oh really?”

“Yea, it’s like a puzzle you know and I have to solve it. Get all the pieces to slide together,” She sits up on the couch, “and then when it clicks it is super satisfying. Finding the week spots in some of their programs, just makes me feel…”

“Alive? Satisfied? Smug?” Roxanne pauses and blinks, “you know Roxy, you sound a little bit like a hacker.”

Roxanne runs her fingers through her hair and chuckles.

“Alright you got me, It’s a small side hobby. Sometimes I dabble in it just to prove I can do it. I love the computer sciences and exploring every nook and cranny of it, so sue me. It’s just me being an idiotic hobbyist who just wants to prove to herself that she can.” It was once she had finished her rant did, she notice Seven was chuckling over the speaker phone as she paced in the room, “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“That I didn’t tell you.”

“I didn’t expect you to tell me all your hobbies immediately, and I did see you took the course ethical hacking last semester so it’s not really a surprise.”

“Oh,” was all she said as she sat down, “well now I feel silly for worrying.”

“Just,” Seven is silent for a moment, “just stick to solving puzzle. Don’t go off and join an agency and get yourself in the bad side of this, alright?”

His voice is lower, different almost a whisper as he says this. Roxanne silently inhales at the seriousness of his tone.

“Yea, no agencies for me. I promise.”

“Good.”

“Seven,” she looks towards the camera, “are you…” She trials off trying to find the right way to phrase this question in the end she could only come up with, “okay?”

A beat of silence and then Seven’s laughter is heard once more.

“Of course! I am excellent, I have to be I am the amazing DEFENDER OF JUSTICE! Oh- I can hear Vanderwood heading this way. I have to go! Talk to you later!”

“Bye Seven!” Roxanne quickly says before he hangs up, for a moment she sits and stares at her phone. Something tugged at the bottom of her gut. This wasn’t the first time Seven had hinted or outright claimed his job wasn’t, ideal. She pushed the coffee away and grimaced. He’d also asked to not ask too many questions about him and she had promised to let him tell her only what he felt comfortable with. She could spend hours worrying about it, but what could she do at the moment. Nothing.

With a sigh she places her phone to the side and boots up her laptop, gaming it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another late night, to complete a last-minute assignment. Seven sighs and stretches as the bar completes, confirming his side had been sent to Vanderwood. His eyes flicker to the clock on his monitor, it was past three am. He had some time, until Vanderwood finished up his side and they could hand in their assignment. A quick nap might be the healthy option, but he wasn’t feeling sleepy at the moment and if he lay in bed only to toss and turn it would be a waste of time. It might be all the doctor pepper he drank, he lost count after the twelfth one.

Seven presses a button that brings up the CCTV of Rikas apartment on the screen. He was half expecting her to still be awake, wouldn’t be the first time he caught her typing away at her laptop. However, this time she was fast asleep on the couch. Quickly he checks the other camera’s in the hall, just incase before minimizing the feed. His mind lingers on the phone he had with her earlier as he spins in his chair. A smile forms across his lips as a plan comes together in his head.

With one last spin he is back at his keyboard, fingers flying across it. He’s smile widens as challenge after challenge hits him, and any thoughts of napping long gone. He has just finished his plan when Vanderwood enters. Quickly, he closes what he was working on and turns to face Vanderwood.

“All done?” He asks his partner who nods and waves the flash drive, “let’s hand it in then!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roxanne can’t help but think to herself, that she should leave the house today and not spend it all day playing video games. It would be the healthy thing to do. So, she ended up having lunch with Jaehee around noon, making sure she had healthy food and nothing from the gas station. It’s night fall when she finally sits back at her laptop.

Ice runs down her spine as she stares at her screen. It flashes red as her fingers hover over the keyboard. Words begin to appear on the screen as if someone was typing them, and Roxanne holds her breath.

**Roxanne or henceforth known as Agent! I present to you a series of challenges to complete! I have to admit your safety protocols were a challenge to get through!**

Roxanne curses out loud taking a deep breath before refocusing on the text.

**I created a series of challenges for you to complete. You can find it in the folder labelled Defender Of Justice on your desktop! I swear on my Doctor Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips that I touched nothing else on your computer!**

Roxanne was torn between amusement and the urge to strangle Seven for scaring her like this. Her curiosity was piked, so she opened the first folder and was met with the first security protocol she had to override. With a grin on her face she quickly rushes to make herself a fresh cup of coffee, and using her phone to order phone online setting the delivery date to her dinner time.

Within a couple of minutes, she’s back at the laptop, blanket around her shoulder. With her right hand she types a swift message to Seven, as her eyes scan the first challenge.

**From: Roxanne**

**To: Seven’**

**I’m not sure whether or not I should be absolutely furious with you or excited about this! I promise you I will have my revenge.**

His reply is almost immediately.

**From: Seven**

**To: Roxanne**

**Defender of Justice meant no harm he swears it!**

Roxanne shakes her head with a smile, once the initial shock was over and her mind was in the right place, she knew Seven meant what he said. Nevertheless, she had her own plan forming in her mind.

Roxanne only gets up to go to the bathroom and pick up her dinner once it arrives. It’s close to midnight when she completes the challenge. Revealing a Secret folder labelled ‘707’. She opens it and an ASCII animation appears. Forming two kittens as they chase after a ball of yarn. Once it ends the folder window appears once more with an image.

Roxanne opens the image, and it is of one where Seven is cuddling Elizabeth the third. His glasses are slightly askew and Elizabeth licks his eyes brow, with a paw placed on his nose.

The photo was adorable, and brought a smile to her face. She takes a moment to enjoy the photo before her eyes flicker to the camera and then the clock. To hell with it, it didn’t matter how late it was, she had to do it now. She wanted to do it now.

With a fresh cup of coffee, Roxanne was once again back to coding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven had successfully switched day for night in the last couple of days. Not that it mattered, sometimes he didn’t sleep for days. As long as he got the job done and paid, he knew it didn’t really matter when he slept and when he was awake. He scrolls through his code absent mindedly, skim reading it and checking for any errors. His legs are propped up on the table as he leans back in his chair. A comfortable position, for the moment.

Suddenly, his screen flashed and alert appeared on his phone screen. Seven almost tumbles over in his chair as he scurries to read the alert.

Was it THE HACKER?

They had managed to bypass, not one, but two safety protocols he had installed. His eyes scanned the screen as lines and lines of code passed by. Something was off. The hacker was figuratively just staying put, no attempt to hide their traces. No, they wanted to be caught. His fingers clacked away at the keyboard as he easily retrieves the locations.

Rika’s Apartment?!

It takes Seven milliseconds to bring up the CCTV. His read eyebrows fly up on his forehead.

Roxanne stood right in front of the camera, balancing her laptop on her left hand, her phone in the other. There’s a smug smile on her face as she stares right at him.

If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was able to see him. He blinks at the screen. His heart raced at the prospect of this challenge, because that’s what she was doing. Challenging him.

Well played.

His phone buzzes and he picks up immediately.

“I know how to get your attention.” Roxanne says.

“You triggered the alert on purpose.”

“A bit, plus, I felt like pushing it further may have been too ahh… dangerous.”

She was right, he had several different protection methods. The first one was a simple one to lull them into a safe sense of security. It was also for his personal phone, one which he kept disconnected from the agency and solely for the purpose of RFA.

“Smart call, did you complete the challenge?”

“Yes, and no there is one waiting for you too. Same folder, in it is another folder named 606. Try to open it. Good Night Seven.”

With that she hung up, leaving him with a slightly open mouth. He moves the phone away from his face and as he looks at the screen, his mouth forms a smile.

Let the games begin.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive!   
> So this chapter was hard to write and WARNING it breaches some trigger warning topics.   
> There are mentions of Suicide, since it does deal with conversations about Rika.

Music blasted from her laptop as she got ready for university, she still had some a lot of spare time. Her class didn’t start until afternoon, but she did promise to meet Yoosung for lunch. She can’t help occasionally twirl and slide along. Her little dance number is interrupted, when her phone started to vibrate. Lowering the volume, she checks her phone. It’s V’s face lighting up the screen.

“Hello, V?”

“Hello, Roxanne. How are you doing?”

She takes a moment to process hearing, V’s voice for the first time.

“I’m doing good. Slowly getting ready for class.”

“Oh, are you busy right now?”

“No, not at all. My class isn’t until in the afternoon.”

“Well, I have some good news for you.”

“Hit me with it!”

“You’re enthusiastic. Since Christmas is coming up, and it has been a couple of years since we hosted a Christmas Party. So, this year is the perfect year to have once again, and then a couple of months after we will have the main party. The Christmas Party will officially be hosted by C&R, however, this is so we can minimize the pressure on you. In addition, it will be a good chance for you to get some experience beforehand, so the main party will be less overwhelming for you.”

“Oh, the rest of the RFA will be happy to hear this! People have been getting kind of nervous whether or not the party will actually happen.”

“I’m sorry my indecisiveness has caused doubt within the RFA.”

“Don’t worry about it V. I think it’s just they are all excited to have the party again.”

“Yes, I can imagine. Well, I will leave you now to enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Thank You, I hope to talk to you again soon.”

“Same here, good bye.”

Roxanne flops down on the couch and logs into the messenger. It was one of the rare instances she was alone in the Chatroom.

**Roxanne has entered the Chatroom**

**Roxanne: Guys!**

**Roxanne: I got news! V just called me in regards to the party.**

**Roxanne: We don’t have a date yet for the main party, but we will be hosting a Christmas party!**

**Yoosung has entered the Chatroom**

**Yoosung: Roxanne!**

**Roxanne: Perfect timing Yoosung!**

**Yoosung: Oh?**

**Yoosung: Oh!**

**Roxanne: We can talk more in a bit, I still need to leave my apartment.**

**Roxanne: And you should be paying attention in class!**

**Roxanne: Cya in a bit Yoosung!**

**Roxanne has left the Chatroom**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoosung is as usual waiting by their table outside, and luckily for them it was still warm enough to sit outside. He greets her with a smile and hands her the coffee as they sit down at the table. Roxanne hums as the drink warms her hand, she inhales the aroma and smiles.

“How was class?” She asks they both settle down at the table, pulling out their lunches for the day.

“Oh it was… okay. Nothing special.” Yoosung replies, eyes focusing on his lunch as he fiddles with his chopsticks. Roxanne takes a bit of her food, taking her time chewing as her green eyes locks on Yoosung. His eyes flicker up towards her, he chuckles to the side before scratching the back of his neck. “Okay, I stopped paying attention after I saw your messages. I was actually looking at old photos from the last Christmas party that was held. It was super busy, but really fun. So, I’m really excited about that! And, and I really want to help you! Since I’ve done this before and I was a lot more involved than anyone else, I am the perfect person to help you!”

Roxanne had wanted to tell him off for not paying attention to a class he was close to failing. However, the confirmation of the Christmas party had brought an extra spark to Yoosungs eyes. While Yoosung was a bubbly person in general, something always worried her about him. Maybe it was the excessive gaming, or the obvious lack of sleep.

“You can help me,” a smile lights up his face and Roxanne holds up a finger. “However, you have to promise me something.”

“What? I’ll promise anything!” he leans over closer to her, with his knees on the bench.

“That you will focus more on your school work.”

Yoosung flops on the table with a groan, he twists his head so his cheek is leaning against the cold wood.

“Roxanne, you’re so mean…” he whines in a low voice.

“No, I’m not. Quite the opposite actually,” she says before taking another bite of her food. “It’s because I care about you that I am doing this. I can’t have it on my conscious if your grades get even worse because you are too busy helping me. Look on the bright side, you’ll get to hang out with me more.”

Yoosung slides back into his seat and sighs.

“I will?”

“Yea, of course. We will study together and then work on the party. I think that’s a fair exchange.”

He pouts for a second, before chuckles and scratching his head.

“That sounds like fun, actually. Okay, it’s a deal.” He reaches out his hand towards her and she takes it, shaking it.

“I do have to tell you one thing about the party as well. Officially it will be held by C&R. Unofficially it will be RFA.”

“What?! How come?!”

“V decided it.”

A scoff escapes his and he crosses his arms over his chest.   
  


“ _V decided it_.” He repeats it in a mocking tone before rolling his eyes, “why do we all just listen to what he says? It’s so annoying.”

“He’s the leader of the RFA, no? It would make sense he makes the final decision.” While what she said stood true to some degree, Roxanne couldn’t help but wonder if some of the RFA just blindly followed him. Nevertheless, she still felt as if she did not have the whole story.

“Rika was the leader at first, he took over after her death. If you can call him a leader. He just kept disappearing, RFA was dying before you come along. And now he is pretending to be a leader. What has he been doing the past two years?”

“His behavior after Rika’s death really bothers you doesn’t it?”

“Yes it does, Rika… Rika meant a lot to me. After she died, I wanted to- I needed him to-. All he did was tell me she committed suicide! No one believes me, but say he is lying. Rika wouldn’t do it, no she wanted to help the world. Why wopudl she leave it when it was going so well.”

Roxanne pulled her arms back, placing them in her lap. Her eyebrows knit together. It feels as if her tongue is knotting up as she tries to find the right words.

“Yoosung, suicidal thoughts aren’t… aren’t always that obvious. People don’t always show what is really happening in their minds. Sometimes, people have things going on their minds that they don’t always want to or know how to express to other people. “She stopped talking and lightly bit down on her tongue, rewinding her own words in her head hoping what she said made sense. “Your emotions about this are understandable, you lost someone very important to you. You’re allowed to feel upset and grieve her.” And so was V, though she did not say this out loud. While it was true, Roxanne did not want to add salt to the wound at the moment. She reaches over and places her hand over his. “Whenever you want to talk about it, I’m here. Even if it’s just to listen.

Yoosung looks up at her through his eyelashes, his shoulders slumping as Roxanne smiles gently at him.

“Thank you, Roxanne. You really are a very kind person. Just like Rika.” He hand freezes on his, and her smile drops lightly.

“I am not Rika, though.” Roxanne says in a low and gentle voice as she pulls her hand away.

“I know that but it’s just that, well you took her place in the RFA.” Roxanne flinches.

_Just a replacement._

“You also want to help us in the RFA. How can I not see Rika in you?”

“Because I am not just her replacement for her.” Her voice came out harsher than she meant it too, Roxanne removed her hands from the table into her lap, “I don’t want to be anyone’s replacement.”

“I just see Rika when I look at you, is that so bad?”

“Yes, yes, it is Yoosung. This put’s a lot of pressure one me to be like her, and I am not her. I want you to see me as Roxanne who I really am. Because what happens when I make a mistake do something that you think Rika wouldn’t do? What happens then, when you realize that I might be completely different then Rika, you might not see me as a good person then.”

“But you are a good person, just like-“

“Stop it.” She interrupts him and takes in a deep breath as his violet eyes widen, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. Please, just listen to what I am saying. I am not Rika, comparing me to her puts me under a lot of stress. I don’t want to disappoint you because I know you miss her, but at the same time I can’t be her. I know you miss her, but this isn’t healthy. Rika… Rika is dead. Me being here, doesn’t bring her back either. I want to be your friend as Roxanne.”

Yoosung was now leaning back, arms hanging by his side. His eyes stare at the table as they shine lightly. He shakes his head and suddenly gets up to his feet.

“I have to go,” he says in a whisper.

“Yoosung,” Roxanne gets up as well, “I-“

“I’ll be late for class.” He murmurs as he turns around walks away from her and the university building. Roxanne quickly packs up her stuff, by the time she tries to follow him, he had disappeared within a crowd of students. Roxanne curses to herself as she looks around, she spends the rest of lunch searching the campus until the bell rang for her class.

Once class had ended Roxanne found a deserted area outside and quickly checked the RFA chat. Only Zen and Jaehee had been online. Heading towards the bus stop Roxanne tries phoning Yoosung. No response.

She taps the screen of her phone as she gnaws her lips for a couple of seconds. Turning on the heels of her feet she heads to the library, she could have headed to the administration building and asked them for his address. However, there was ahigh chance they wouldn’t give it to her.

Roxanne sits herself at a computer, in the farthest corner of the library, and plugs in her phone in into the computer. Her fingers fly over the keyboard as the computer boots and within minutes she’s logged in as admit. She can’t help but think how easy this was compared to Seven’s challenge and for a moment she smiles at the screen. It only takes her a couple of minutes to locate Yoosungs address and to erase any evidence of her presence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fifteen minutes later Roxanne is walking through the hallways of the dorm rooms. Her hands are in her pockets as she passes by random assortment of students, until finally she stands Infront of Yoosungs door. Taking in a deep breath she knocks.

Silence.

“Yoosung?” Roxanne calls out.

Nothing.

“I will kick down this door if I have too.” Roxanne says as she reaches out the door know and pressed down. The door opens, revealing a dimly lit hallway. Carefully she pushes the door open, stepping inside. Once more she calls out his name. This time she hears scurrying and down the hall a messy blonde hair peeks out from around the corner.

“Roxanne?!” Yoosung exclaims, “What are you doing here?”

Roxanne kicks the door closed behind her as she approaches him.

“I was worried about you.”

As she gets closer to him, she notices the red rimmed eyes, the floor cluttered with random photos. She could barely make out all the members of the RFA, including Rika.

“I… I’m fine.” He says stepping back and looking away from her, violet eyes focusing on the wall.

“We need to talk Yoosung.” Roxanne says as she kneels down and picks up a photo where Rika and Yoosung, both one arm around each other and smiling at the camera. Yoosung steps back, his back hitting the wall before he slides down to sit on the floor.

Roxanne picks up several other photos before sitting down next to him.

“I hate this, I hate everything about this.” Yoosung murmers.

“I get that, sometimes life just makes it hard not to hate it.” Roxanne comments as she leans against the wall. “I’m sorry if I was too harsh on your earlier.”

“No, it’s okay.” He fiddles with the string of his hoodie, “it’s just everything stopped making sense after she was gone, and I’m just trying… I don’t know what I’m trying anymore.”

“Just to make it through the day?” Roxanne offers.

“Yea, something like that.”

Roxanne flips through the photos, letting them sit in silence for a couple of seconds.

“She’s really pretty.” Roxanne can’t help but comment, and Yoosung hums out in response. She picks up a couple of more photos from the floor.

“Have you ever lost someone important to you?” Yoosung asks in a quiet voice.

_A flash of light._

_Screeching fills the air._

“Yes, yes I have.” Yoosung looks at her, “it was a long time ago. I was really young.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Of course.” She replies as she stretches out her legs, “but I can’t spend the rest of my life just missing them. I mean, it’s okay to miss them until well, the end. What I mean is you can’t spend the rest of your life only focusing on that.” Roxanne groans and rubs her face as she tries to pick out what to say.

“I try not to but, I just feel lost… if she were here, she would help me. She would know how to get me… un-lost.”

“Yoosung, I think… I think you need to start depending more on yourself. You can’t be solely dependent on others, specifically on person. That puts a lot of pressure on them. The thing is, it’s now up to you to get yourself, as you would say, un-lost. However, you are not alone. You have us, the RFA.”

“Yea, but all they do is judge how much I game.”

“Because they care. You may not realize it, but they are worried about you too. If I am honest, you not sleeping at all, missing classes to game, that’s unhealthy. Gaming in itself, is a good fun activity and not at all a bad thing. I just thing you are just using to run away from everything going on here.” Roxanne motions to the room with her hand. “I think the RFA, themselves are a bit lost as well. Everyone one of us, and they aren’t sure how to help you either and they try in their own way too.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I mean everyone is a little lost. Sometimes we are bit more lost than usual. But that’s just life in general, your just all lost and bumping heads. Ever seen those panda videos where they fall over each other’s? I think it perfect describes everyone going through life.” Yoosung chuckles and Roxanne smiles.

“Even Jumin?”

“Even Jumin, but he’s a panda in a suit.” A snort escapes Yoosung.

“Now there’s an image.”

“And all of these clumsy pandas care about you. And we are here to help you, I am here to help you! I am going to study with you, I’m going to play LOLOL with you, we are going to set up the Christmas party.”

“You promise?”

Roxanne lifts up her hand, extending a pinky.

“Pink Swear,” she says with a smile. Yoosung smiles back as he interlocks his pink with hers.

“Now we should clean up these photos?”

“Yea I probably should.”   
“You can first tell me about some of them.” Roxannes waves the couple of photos in her hand.

“Sure,” Yoosung says as he picks up the album and sets it between them on the floor.

Roxanne hands him a photo and for each one he tells her about the previous RFA parties. A lot of photos were from there, there were also numerous selfies with random RFA members. Roxanne stops at a photo, of Yoosung and Seven with his unmistakable red hair.

Yoosung is smiling at the photo, Seven has his arms around his shoulders and is grinning goofily at the camera.

“This is a cute photo,” Roxanne says showing it to Yoosung who smiles at it.

“I think we had just been at a Star Wars movie premiere.” Yoosung comments, “Him and I go to movies a lot, well as much as we can with his schedule. Recently he has had more and more work. He barely has time to hang out with anyone from the RFA.”

“I noticed.” Roxanne says.

“Maybe we can go to the movies sometimes!”

“That sounds like fun.” Roxanne says as she places the photo in the album before picking up the next photo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s nighttime when Roxanne finally kicks the door to her apartment, well Rika’s apartment, shut. Leaning against the door she takes a deep breath. Rubbing her face she places her bag on the couch and flops down. Part of her felt hopefully after today. Yoosung had listened, and had seemed to accept what she had to say. There was still a long road ahead but she was hopeful.

What he needed was maybe for V to talk to him, get some closure there. Maybe she’d bring that up with Seven, he might know how to convince V to do it. Not tonight, she was exhausted despite the positive ending to the day it was still mentally draining.

Roxanne takes out her phone and looks at the picture she snapped of the photo she found of Seven and Yoosung.

‘Look at these dorks,’ she thinks to herself with a grin on her face. What made her chuckle was that these dorks were just a phone call away.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could this have been two separate Chapters? YES!  
> Is it? NO!  
> Did I proof read this? Nope!  
> So there are mentions of a gun here that will be explained in the future. A lot happens this chapter.   
> Anyway hope you enjoy this ridiculously long chapter! XD

“You had red hair?!”

Roxanne chuckles at the familiar voice yelling from her phone as she moves it away from her ear.

“Give me one second Seven.” She says with a smile before setting her phone on the counter. She places the to-go cups in the cup holders and gently places them in the bag. The smell of fresh coffee overwhelming her sense. She licks her lisp as she places the beverages in the bag, and then she attaches her head phones to her phone. Pocketing her phone, she takes her bag and makes her way out of the Café that was slowly getting over crowded.

“Hey, okay, you have my attention. Yes, I had red hair at one point in high school.” She replies as she makes her way down the street, “I experimented a lot with hair colors, sometimes I had multiple colors.”

“Can I see?”

“Hmm, maybe, if you complete another challenge.”

Seven huffs from the other end.

“That’s not fair!”

She could practically hear him pout.

“How so?”

“Well, you see, it’s in the same category as the one I have already scene. Therefore, me completing the challenge should give me access to any photos of your different colored hair?”

“By that logic, I should see every photo you have with a cat.”

Silence, and then laughter comes from the other end. It’s infectious and Roxanne can’t help but chuckle along with him.

“You win this round Roxy,” Seven says as he inhales the air back into his lungs.

“I can’t believe I bested the great God Seven-Zero-Seven!” Roxanne pauses as some people glance at her before she quickly continues down the street and talks in a lower voice, “how will your reputation ever recover?”

“It won’t, you have forever tarnished it. I am doomed to suffer forever!”

“Oh no! Whatever shall you do?”

“Making a challenge you can’t solve, and fix my reputation as the unbeatable hacker!”

“Well, you’re setting my expectations high. I look forward to your next challenge.”

“You shall have it in a couple of days, once Miss Vanderwood stops looking over my shoulder.”

“Your maid watches over you?”

“Yea, she gets angry if I’m not working. You see if I don’t work, I don’t get paid and then she doesn’t get paid. And that makes her mad.”

Roxanne could hair the faint clicking on the other end of the line, the sudden silence caused a shiver to run down her spine.

“I once also had rainbow colored hair.” She says with a cheery tone.

“Oh!? Did you now, you can’t just say that and not have a photo.”   
“I was experimenting, I couldn’t decide on a color. So of course, the perfect solution was all of them at the same time.” A soft chuckle and Roxanne almost exhales in relief, “Dying my hair is kind of calming, I guess. Must sound weird, like painting but just painting hair.”

Roxanne scrunches up her nose almost mouthing what the fuck are you saying, to herself.

“Makes sense, like painting nails. You’re doing something that doesn’t need a lot of brain power but still slightly focuses part of your brain, allowing the other part to wonder off.”,

“Yea exactly! Oh, you reminded me I need to get some nail polish. I always get it all over my skin.”

“You just need to practice more, just like dying your hair. “

“I dyed my ears purples, got the dye everywhere.” Roxanne groans at the memory, “I ruined my jeans and shirt.”

“That must have looked funny.” She hears a slight chuckle paired with the clacking of keys.

“Seven, do you need to go back to work?” She asks as she leans her back against the wall of the C&R building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nah, I have a few more minutes to convince you to show me your embarrassing photos.”

“Just a couple of more minutes?”

“Yes, I need to work hard if we ever want to have the RFA dinner.”

“I look forward to that, it would be nice to finally meet the man behind the mystery!”

“You’ve seen photos of me, that not enough?”

“No,” She says without thinking. “I mean,” she quickly continues, “I’ve met almost everyone else from RFA. You can’t blame me for wanting to meet you, not only that you have the upper hand here.”

“How so?”

“CCTV.”

“Oh right!”

“You get to see me all the time Seven. It’s only fair!”

“Well then, God Seven should get back to work then to make it possible!”

Roxanne smiles.

“I’ll talk to you late Seven, Good Luck! Meow~”

“Meow~” Seven responds before the line goes dead. Roxanne pockets her phone and enters the C&R building.

She waves at the receptionist who waves back with a smile and motions her towards the elevator. As she waits for the elevator she puts on some music, bopping her hips to the rhythm.

When the elevator door opens Roxanne makes a beeline for the very back, allowing everyone else to pile up into the area. She leans back, on hand grasping the railing behind her. Her leather jacket and combat boots really made her stick out from the other in various types of suits. Her t-shirt was also a bright green color, that along with her hair stood out amongst the various black, brown, grey and white suits. A couple of the workers glance back at her before going about their business.

Roxanne cringing as she pushes by the people at her floor, mumbling apologies and taking a deep breath as she leaves the crowded elevator behind. She shudders lightly before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. No matter how many times she rode in that elevator she would not get used to how crowded it could get. For now, that was behind her, and in front the C&R Balcony Café awaited her.

The waitress leads her to the balcony at her usual table. Anytime Jaehee had free time for coffee, or Roxanne had pulled the I need help with the party card they had sat out here sipping coffee.

Roxanne sets her bag down in the chair before leaning over the railing and looking at the city sprawling below the building. She takes out her hair tie and pulls her hair up into a ponytail as she watches the city.

“Roxanne, I hope you weren’t waiting too long.” Jaehee’s voice finally comes from behind her. Roxanne turns, to lean her back against the railing now and offers the other woman a smile.

“I’ve only been here for a couple of minutes. I took my time to enjoy the view.” Roxanne says as she finally kicks herself away from the railing and moves to set up her laptop and their coffees.

“Oh good you brought the coffee’s” Jaehee says as she takes one out.

“I got us several flavors to try out. We will need some more mugs though.” Roxanne sets her laptop to the side as she sits down.

“I can get some.” With the Jaehee disappeared back into the building. Roxanne couldn’t help but smile at Jaehee’s retreating form, that now contained a slight bounce to it and she was highly suspicious that the new project had something to do with it. A simple throwaway project, or at least Jumin was hoping it was, aehee on the other hand wanted to do more. So, this was Roxanne’s third day in a row bringing her an assortment of coffee from famous cafés to aid in her research.

This was now Roxanne’s third day in a row at C&R’s balcony café. And each of these three days she had watches Jaehee’s motivation grow, and he step gained a bounce to it.

Jeahee quickly returned with a tray of mugs and immediately set about to splitting each of the coffee between the two of them.

“This smell delicious.” Jaehee comments as she pours them.

“I know right, I was practically drooling as they were making them.” Roxanne comments as she opens up her university work. “I got cinnamon and mixed spices one. Might be a good idea to have those offered at the Christmas Fundraises.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Jeahee says as she pulls out her documents and sets them on the table as she sits down.

“We should save some for Yoosung to try out, too. He might have some good ideas.”

“Already set some mugs aside for him. When’s he coming?”

“After his class finishes, he needs to study for an exam. I hoping a change of scenery helps his focus.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Roxanne hums, before smiling to herself. She had also pulled the same tactic on Jaehee. Who until now had spent most of her days in her office working, now that Roxanne was here well Jaehee worked out in the fresh air of the balcony. Roxanne hides her smile behind a mug.

They spend the next half hour tasting the different coffee’s and making notes. Roxanne multitasked between commenting on the coffee and working on her homework. They even tried mixing some coffees together, they were in the process of tasting their third mixture when Yoosung arrives.

His cheeks were a light pink color as a waitress led him to their tables. He was scratching the back of his neck with one hand as the other held on to the strap of his bag. However, his downcast gaze changed the moment he saw the view from the balcony. He lets out a low whistle before jogging over to the railing to take a better look.

Once he is finally settled at the table, Jaehee and Roxanne present to him the different coffee’s and what they had done so far. The table if filled to the brim, with Coffee mugs, Jaehee’s papers, Roxanne’s wires and gadgets and now Yoosungs university books. Yoosung was chewing on his pen, leaning back in his chair as he read, Jaehee face was blocked by her hair as she wrote an essay of notes, and Roxanne leaned back in her chair as she waited for her code to compile,

The light breeze ruffled her green hair and soothed her skin. She tilter her head back slightly and closed her eyes, a light smile on her lips as she enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.

Footsteps caused her to finally open her eyes and she tilts her head to see Jumin approaching their table.

“There you are Roxanne.” He says offering her a smile, he then glances at the table. A crease forms between his eyebrows as his eyes zero in on the number of coffee mugs on the table. “I see you are all working hard.”

“Working hard or hardly working.” Roxanne says with a chuckle, causing Jumin to cock his head to the side as he looks at her. She clears her throat for a second as Yoosung looks at her and pouts.

“I’m working hard.” He whines at her.

“I know you are; I’m just joking.” Roxanne says as she gets up and ruffles Yoosungs hair, “Are you ready for me now, Jumin?”

Jumin nods and waits as Roxanne leans over to save her work.

“One second,” She comments over her shoulder, the program had compiled. Good, she thinks to herself before shutting her laptop. “Yoosung, would you mind ordering us something to eat when I come back. I’m sure we’ll be hungry by then since it will be close to dinner.”

“Yes!” Yoosung says, eagerly reaching for the menu and pushing away his books. Roxanne shakes her head before turning to follow Jumin, who was now holding the door open for her.

Jumin led her through the company building, first showing her where the Christmas Fundraises was usually held. Ground floor, side of the building. It had both an outside area and inside, the glass doors opened wide. Jumin pointed out locations of the last fundraises placements and what issues it caused along with why it was also a good placement. Next he gave her a tour of where the main RFA party will be held, a wide spacious room, with access to massive balconies. Easy access from the Kitchen. Roxanne had let out a low whistle when she had seen it.

Now they were in his office, Jumin had set the blueprints of both locations on his desk for Roxanne to look over and take photos off, under the condition that she does not share them. There were also photos and plans of the previous Christmas Fundraiser. Jumin was now watching her from the side as she leaned over the blue prints analyzing each location. The gaze bore into her shoulders and she straightened up, looking straight at him.

“I can feel you analyzing me.” She says, locking eyes with him. He for a moment freezes before his shoulder relax and he readjusts his tie.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. You are still a new member of the RFA and there is so much we don’t know about you.”

“Do you still not trust me?” Roxanne asks as she leans her behind on the desk, now focused on him.

“No, that’s not it. Luciel cleared you with V. There are just still so many questions left unanswered.”

“I know what you mean. I’d still like to know who Unknown is, and why, why did he bring me to the RFA.”

“I’m curious how a woman such as yourself,” he motions to her with his hand. “A smart woman, from what I hear from your university grades. How does a smart woman end up following the directions of a hacker on her phone?”

Roxanne lets out a gust of air before chuckling and shaking her head.

“Curiosity and Gut feeling.” She replies simply, and Jumin knits his eyebrows together. “I was suspicious, when I got the messages. At first, I wasn’t going to go to the apartment. But… something told me that maybe I had no choice. And honestly, I wanted to find out what was going on. I still wonder though, why me? Was I specific target, or was I just someone chosen at random?”

Roxanne turns her head to look out the winder, as she presses her lips together. If she was a specific target, why, why her? Had she fucked up somewhere? Left a trace of her existence? No, if she had she would not be planning a party right now she would be, she would be-

“We will not let anything happen to you.” Jumin’s voice breaks her train of thought, she jolts head snapping to look at him. A grateful smile forms on her lips, glad that he had stopped her train of thought. There was no use thinking in that direction. “Luciel will do everything in his power to catch the hacker, maybe I can try talking to him convince him to reveal your address to me so you can have some body guards. If you really feel unsafe all you have to do is ask.”

“Thank you Jumin,” She says meaning every word. His words were genuine and she could tell, it brought warmth to her. Everyone from the RFA whilst all unique in their own way, genuinely had good hearts. “I don’t think body guards are necessary. I’ll be fine. For what it’s worth I don’t regret listening to the Hacker, you may think it’s stupid, but it brough me to the RFA.”

Jumin adjusts the cuffs on his wrists before he clears his throat momentarily dropping his gaze. He opens his mouth to say something, when a knock interrupts him. His gaze snaps up to the door as it opens without a response from Jumin. A frown forms on his face as a young woman with Magenta hair enters his office. There’s a smile on her lips as she looks at Jumin, however once her eyes travel to Roxanne the smile turns into something sour.

“Jumin, your father said you’d be here.” She says in a voice that was a forced high pitched. Roxanne’s shoulders tensed and she noted the momentary scowl on Jumin’s face before it melted into disinterest, “he didn’t warn me you’d have company, however.”

Steeling her back Roxanne approached her and handed out her arm.   
“The name is Roxanne, nice to meet you.” Her voice is upbeat, albeit slightly forced along with her smile. This causes Jumin to act as well, approaching both the women. Sarah for a moment steps back, her eyes dashing between the two of them.

Jumin strides up to the two women, finding his voice as Roxanne drops her hand.

“Roxanne, this is Sarah Choi. She’s the apprentice of my father’s… girlfriend.” His voice is slightly strained at the last word.

“I am also Jumin’s Fiance!” She announces, straightening her back and staring Roxanne down. Roxanne merely cocked an eyebrow as she cast a quick glance at Jumin, who sighed.

“I do not appreciate being interrupted at work.” Jumin says as he straightens his tie again.

“It’s not interrupting if it’s your fiancé. Plus, whatever you were doing with her, well, I wouldn’t call that work.” Roxanne’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Don’t worry Jumin, I don’t mind. We aren’t married just yet.”

Roxanne snorts, causing the other woman to shoot her a glare.

“Roxanne,” Jumin turns to face her his back turning towards Sarah, “I am sorry I have to break this meeting short. I’ll escort you back to Jaehee and Yoosung.” Roxanne turns back to the table to clear up the mess, “don’t worry about that. I will handle it.”

Jumin opens the door and waits for both of them to leave. Roxanne does so wait outside. Sarah pouts first, before strutting out of the office, Jumin closes the door and locks it.

“Wait here, I will deal with you in a couple of minutes.” Jumin says to Sara before approaching Roxanne.

“Deal with me, you’re making me sound like some kind of problem.” Sarah complains, lightly stomping her foot.

“That’s because you are.” Roxanne says before swiftly biting her tongue and cursing internally. However, one quick glance at Jumin revealed a small smile on his face. Sarah frowns at Roxanne making a noise that’s between a snarl and a snort. Jumin lifts his hand up, to usher Roxanne towards the elevator and Roxanne took her opportunity. She turns on her heels and links her arms through Jumin’s. Immediately he tucks it to his side and heads towards the elevators. Roxanne, can’t help the grin on her face as she can practically feel Sarah fuming as she gets left behind.

They both keep their backs straight as they wait for the elevator. When they finally do enter, they release each other. Roxanne moves to the buttons, repeatedly pressing the close door button while Jumin walks over to the wall to lean against it, rubbing his face with a sigh.

“You’re not actually engaged to her are you?” Roxanne asks once the doors close, Jumin straightens up, flattening out his clothes with his hands.

“My father’s doing, but no we are not technically engaged.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling once more before continuing, “he wants me to marry his current girlfriends, apprentice because he claims it will be good for the company. It will not. He’s just blinded by…”

“Love?” Roxanne offers.

“Not sure if it’s Love, then he’s been in love many times. My father is a good man, but he gets carried away when it comes to relationship. It wouldn’t be that much of a problem, if he didn’t involve the company in it.”

“So how does he think this… engagement will help the company?”

“Sarah, owns a company called Sugar Rush and thinks it would be a good addition to the company.”

“Let me guess, it wouldn’t.” Jumin shakes his head.

“Not to mention you have that gold digging bitch hounding your every move.” Roxanne comments crossing her hands over her shoulder. Jumin looks up and her and shakes his head with an almost silent chuckle.

“You really do speak your mind.”

“Oh, no. She’s a lovely girl, I wish I was engaged to her. Except she wouldn’t be interested in me since I’m a student living in someone else’s apartment.” Jumin watches her as Roxanne rants with sarcasm voicing her every word. “All jokes aside, you have told your father no, right?”

“I did, but he’s still pushing the issue.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He sighs as the elevator dings open and they exit it, “I have to go talk to my father. Please do not worry about me, focus on the Christmas Fundraiser.”

He offers her a smile, which she returns.

“Well, if there’s anything you know where to find me. Good Luck Jumin!”

“Good bye Roxanne.” He says before turning and leaving.

By the time Roxanne returns to Jaehee and Yoosung they are both looking at the same menu. Simultaneously they look up at her and smile, it is so comical Roxanne can’t help but chuckle. The scene warms her heart and she skips over to them to look at the menu with a smile on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’s on her knees gasping, panting. She’s been here before. She’s lost count how many times. Her ears are ringing and her voice is sore. Her hands are tied up behind her, skin sore from rubbing against the rope. A voice from somewhere behind her, urges her, tells her to break free.

She does, with a sharp pain down her wrists and she bolts. She only takes two steps before she’s pulled back, there’s an arm around her throat. Her nails scratch at the skin.

Not again.

Not again.

Not again.

Calm breath. She finds her footing, relaxes her body and then then elbows them in the stomach. The taste of freedom is sweet on her tongue.

So close. She trips over.

Over nothing. Slamming into the cold hard floor. The door closes, and she hears the legs scuttling. She knows that noise.

No no.

The hair on her skin rises as she feels tiny little legs on her skin. A dry sob escapes her as she moves onto her back side trying to shuffle away. And then an all to familiar voice cuts through her.

There is no escape.

And she screams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roxanne jolts awake sitting up right, throat sore as she screams. Her fingers white from clutching the blanket. She tosses the blanket and jumps to her feet, she presses her back against the wall and her eyes dart to every dark corner. Her chest felt constraint, like a tight rope was wrapped around it. Even the open window didn’t help.

Her name was Roxanne.

She was in Rika’s apartment.

She was a Computer Science student at Sky University.

She was now part of the RFA.

She was alone in her apartment.

She needed fresh air.

Roxanne goes through her mental list, gathering some semblance of sanity. With a deep breath she ducks into the bedroom, pulling on a pair of jeans and grabbing her oversized green hood. Finally, she stood at the bedside table, and chill going down her spine. There was no thinking here she opens the bottom drawer and moves the magazine before grabbing the pistol hidden there. She tucks it in her jeans and pulls her hoodie over, successfully hiding it. Grabbing her bag, she returns to the couch locating her phone on the floor. She must have knocked it down when she woke up. Grabbing her wallet she walks out of the apartment, and takes the stairs down with a brisk pace.

The cold wind slices across her cheeks and despite the biting cold she welcomes it. Taking a deep breath, she heads down the road. The streets were empty and dark, the dawn still a couple hours away. She wanders around aimlessly, her fingers brushing up against the comforting hardness against her hip. Mentally she can’t help but think, come on out I dare you, come and get me.

No one jumps her from the shadows.

No one was out here.

And for that she was grateful, her fears being slowly suffocated by the cold wind.

Roxanne stood on the corner; now certain she wasn’t going to be jumped. At least not tonight. She tilts her head back and takes in a deep breath.

“I am better than this.” She says towards the night sky, “I know how to handle this. I can handle this. Funny isn’t it, how it’s always the dreams that get to me.”

Useless, hopeless, weak.

Her dreams always made her feel like that, every time.

She was not, she was not any of these things. Never again.

Roxanne looks around and locates a nearby, 24/7 store and smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven hears the alert as he’s scrolling through a mind-numbing amount of code. He almost didn’t hear it, he usually wouldn’t react. But it’s four am in the morning. It’s four am and she has left the apartment. Glancing behind him for a moment Seven turns on the CCTV. He turns on the hallway one just in time to see her retreating back in the hallway. His phone is right there, and his fingers hover over it when he hears footsteps.

Internally he curses, and minimizes the CCTV as Vanderwood walks in, with eyebags as dark as his own. He turns in his chair offering Vanderwood his usually goofy grin.

“How can I help you, Miss Vanderwood?” He asks with a light tone. Vanderwood walks over to the empty chair next to him and hands him a USB stick. Without a word Seven plugs it in. Vanderwood leans his arm around the back of his chair. Seven needs him to leave, he needs him to leave so he can figure out why Roxanne decided to go out in the middle of the night. He cracks his knuckles as new code flashes across his screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roxanne drops the bag from the store in the hallway when she gets back, kicking the door closed behind her. When the door clicks shut, she makes a beeline for the bathroom and shuts the door. She pulls out the gun and sets it on the sink, before stripping of the rest of the clothes.

She stood naked in front of the mirror. Dark tattoo’s, adorn the right side of her body. Roses growing out from a glitch like abstract design and on her forearm a much simpler tattoo of a binary code. Her fingers trail down the tattoo on her arm a reminder. Her fingers trail over the much larger tattoo across a budding rose concealing one of the numerous scars hidden beneath the art work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven exhales as Vanderwood finally departs, taking the USB drive with him. The moment the door shuts Seven turns on the CCTV feed back on. Just in time to see Roxanne return, with a bag of groceries. He lets out a sigh of relief. What the hell was so important to buy in the middle of the night? He doesn’t get his answer as she drops the bags and disappears into the bathroom.

Seven slouches in his seat, only now realizing how tense he had been as all his muscles relax. He rubs his face and he moves the CCTV feed to the side for now, focusing back on his code for the time being.

He finally glances back at it, when he notes movement from the camera in her living room. Roxanne was there now, sporting and oversized t-shirt, putting away the groceries she bought. She’s swaying slightly bopping her head to a rhythm he can’t hear.

Finally, she turns around singing into a bottle before turning the cap off and chugging it. His stomach drops, veins turning ice cold.

Was that alco-

No, it wasn’t. He exhales as he recognizes the all too familiar bottle of doctor pepper. He’s impressed she was chugging a two-liter bottle. He ruffles his hair as he watches her settle the bottle down and continue to dance to whatever music she was blasting.

Usually he wouldn’t watch, he respected her privacy. Only ever checking in to make sure she was safe, and sometimes when they were chatting and she knew he was. But something was nagging him at the back of his head, something felt off. He finds himself holding his phone, but pauses as he watches her twirl to the table and pick up her own phone. She stands in the middle of the room, hips swaying lips moving as her fingers fly across the screen. Her fingers freeze for a moment, hovering over.

Suddenly her head snaps up and she turns looking straight at him. He freezes in his seat.

Roxanne tosses the phone onto the couch as she walks closer to the camera and sticks out her tongue. He sets his phone done as he smiles at the video feed of the CCTV.   
  


Seven puts on his headphone’s turning on the music as Roxanne danced in front of the camera. It wasn’t a show it wasn’t sexy; it was just free, childish, playful. So he leaves her there on a side screen as he looks at his code again with a smile on his face.

Roxanne has her own smile as she allows herself to feel a lot less alone than she had in years.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WEll here have another MASSIVE UPDATE!  
> Once again I think this could have been 2 chapters.  
> For some reason I can't help but write long chapters xD for now :P   
> I both LOVED and HATED writing this chapter.  
> There was ONE Scene I rewrote three TIMES, it was right before the restaurant scene :P   
> And the rest... WELL I LOVED IT!  
> Anyway hope you enjoy this BEHEMOTH of a chapter xD

The soft rays of morning bath Roxanne’s skin as she pours her cereal. She's softly humming to herself, when the phone on the counter lights up. Her eyes travel to it and she pauses. For the first time in a long time, it's not anyone from the RFA. Nevertheless, she smiles as she picks.  
  
"Seok! It's been a while!" Roxanne sings happily into the phone as she brings her cereal to the couch.  
  
"Glitch! It's so good to hear your voice again! How's school going?"  
  
"Good, you know me. There's nothing I can't program. How's your shop going?"  
  
"Fantastic, you should see some of my latest work!"  
  
"Are you trying to get me to get another tattoo?"  
  
"Hmm no not really, but you are tempted now aren't you?" She laughs and leans back into the couch.  
  
"Maybe a little, is this why you called to tempt me like this?"  
  
"Ah no, actually..." as he trails of she sits up again eyebrows furrowing, "have time for a coffee today?"  
  
"Yea, I can head there right away." She's already on her feet heading towards her wardrobe.  
  
"Great! I'll see you in a bit, and stay safe Glitch."  
  
"You too!" With that she hangs up and gets dressed.  
  
Seok was her first friend, her first and only friend for a long while. Roxanne still remembers it as if it were yesterday. She was sixteen when she first entered his tattoo shop, and saw him for the first time. His electric blue hair tied up behind his head, sleeveless shirts showing of the canvas of tattoos on his arms. The first thing he did was ask her age, and tell her he wouldn't tattoo a minor especially without a parent’s permission. Seok had started his lecture about hpw tattoos were a permanent decision, and she had interrupted him.  
"Can you cover up some scars?" He frowned at her and tilted his head to the side. His previous expression softened lightly before asking what scars. She had pulled up her sleeve first, revealing a long scar down her fore arm. Then lifted right side of her shirt revealing the right side of her body covered in a wide variety of scars. An exhale of relief had left her lips when he had said it was doable. The price was steep for the coverage, but Soek had struck up a deal she would do him a favor. The first one was simple, create a website for his tattoo shop. His tattoo shop had quickly turned into a safe space as she survived high school, spending more of her days studying there and doing the occasional job.  
  
Roxanne wonder what the job was now.  
  
The smell of incense invades her nose and she's thrown back in the past as she enters the Tattoo shop. The walls are covered with various tattoo designs from simple shapes to more detailed abstract designs that pop. There’s a variety of seats, including bean bag chairs in the waiting room. Deeper in the room there are curtains where the tattoos were applied. From deep within the shop a dog scurries out. Her barks fill the air as she bounds towards Roxanne. Her white fur glimmering under the light. Roxanne kneels down as she flings herself at her feet, rolling over on her back.  
  
"Hey there Paws!" Roxanne greets the dog, giving her belly rubs, " I missed you too girl."  
  
"Good to see you again Glitch."  
  
"Hey Soek, good to see you too." His hair is shorter now pulled up in a faux hawk, with the same electric blue color. His grey eyes, were kind and soft as the glance at the tattoo on her forearm.  
  
"Checking out your old art?" She asks as she stands ups again.  
  
"What can I say, you're still my favorite canvas. The usual?" He says as he heads towards the coffee machine.  
  
"Yes please. I can't blame you, I still find myself marveling at your work." Roxanne heads over and sits at a couch at the table allowing Paws to leap up and sprawl on her lap. They take a few minutes to catch up, she tells him about her assignments.  
  
"Oh, also I joined a charity group." Roxanne says as Soek sets some coffee Infront of her and sits down.  
  
"Oh finally, doing something apart from university work!” He teases her.  
  
"Yea, I do miss volunteering at the shelter."  
  
"What's the charity group called?"  
  
"RFA."  
  
"Oh, I've heard of them. They had a massive charity party couple of years back."  
  
"So Soek, what’s up?" She asks looking at him. He sighs and leans back into his seat.  
  
"Had a client couple of days ago, wanted a tattoo. Decided to strike up a conversation with me. He took one look at me and Paws and figured I was one of those people. Apparently, he hosts dog fighting competitions... I know you took a break from this stuff due to your own reasons but..." he trails of looking at Paws, his eyes taking a distant look. Roxanne leans forward taking a sip of her coffee and noted the paper under her mug. Taking it in her hands she reads the name before scrunching it up and putting it in her pocket, "you can say no. I just figured I'd ask."  
  
"What else did he talk about?" She asks before taking a sip of her coffee, eyes focusing on Paws.   
  
"That he's holding a competition soon, large bets already being made. He bragged about how he has the winning dog."  
  
"Disgusting," Roxanne comments half mindedly, her brain already running at highspeed. Each step being laid out in a mental image.

She changed the subjects, once more focusing on catching up with an old friend. When she leaves the last thing he says is, "Thank You."  
  
Roxanne finds herself in a cafe, taking a coffee she sets herself up with her laptop in a secluded corner. Putting on her headphones she shuts out the world and lets her fingers fly over her keyboard. She had a name and that was enough. Social media sights, location, old files a whole world of information was open to her now. She grins at her screen as she dives deeper. A few hours later and she shuts her laptop. Taking a couple of minutes to finish of her coffee, she watches the people in the café go about their business before finally heading home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The clouds cast shadows over the road across her, the lays of light peaking out in an almost heavenly way between them. However, Roxanne was not looking at the sky, her eyes were focused on her phone as she leans against a wall. Making sure to take note of whoever exited and entered the house on the other side of the street. It wasn’t until the car pulls away from the house and drives away does she finally kick off the wall and make her way down the street. 

Roxanne’s black hoodie was pulled up over her head, the fabric continues slightly darker spots, matching the sidewalks after the light rain. She takes the long way around, going around the block in a leisurely stride. Calmly she walks into the passage way between the houses before finally approaching the gate of the targeted house. Her eyes glance around at the empty area before, she climbs over the high fence. When she hits the ground, she rolls before straightening up and dusting herself off. The backyard is empty.

Swiftly she makes her way towards the back door, kneeling in front she pulls out her wallet and out bent thin wires. She places one in her mouth before working on unlocking the door. Her lip twitches as she soon hears the satisfying click. Pocketing her wallet, she slowly opens the door. Her head peeks into the dark hallway first, making note of the lack of light from all the room. Entering the house, she silently shuts the door behind her. She glances into every room as she makes her way down the hallway before taking the stairs. There was nothing of note so far, just a house normal house or so it would seem. Of course, it would look normal, otherwise this would be too easy.

Roxanne makes her way upstairs, taking each step slowly as she strains her ears to listen. Exhaling she finally makes her way to the first floor. The first door is open reveling a bedroom. The bed is a mess, the closet is open. She enters, listening in to the door in the bedroom. She opens it, confirming her suspicions. A bathroom.

Roxanne pulls back into the bedroom closing the bathroom door. She takes a couple of minutes peering into the closet and the bedside table. She snorts when she opens the drawer, greeted by a naked woman on the magazine. The bedroom was useless, so she shuts the drawer and makes her way to the other door in the hallway.

Locked.

Of course,

Once more Roxanne makes use of her lockpicking skills. It takes slightly longer than the backdoor, but after a few minutes she enters what is obviously a study. A desk is planted in the center of the room, with computer placed on it. It’s a small room and on the wall, there are shelves with papers and a couple of note books. The windows were luckily already hidden behind the heavy curtains. With a quick glance making sure there are no cameras, Roxanne heads towards the desk and sits down at it.

Roxanne pulls out a flash drive from her pocket as she boots up the computer, and sets her backpack beside her. Her face lights up from the screen, and her lips curve into a smirk. Within minutes, files were open, images flashed on the screen, and second by second the flash drive started to fill up. She leans back in her chair stretching her arms above her head as she watched the progress bar slowly fill up. Receipts, emails, chat logs, it was all in her hands.

The screen flashes and within seconds her back straightens up as her fingers once more fly over the keyboard. Within minutes the computer is turned off and the flash drive is pocketed, she shuts the door and uses her lock pics to lock it again. Right as the lock clicks, the sound of engine fills the air.

Roxanne checks her watch, and exhales before ducking into the bedroom. She ducks below the window and listens to the garage door. As the noise ceases she opens the window and steps onto roof of the garage and kneels by the wall, slowly she tip toes around to the edge. She waits in the shadow for a couple of minutes, and wait till the side street clears up before finally dropping down.

Roxanne pats her right pocket before swiftly making her way down the street, her eyes flickering side from side. She catches her self before she can flinch as her phone vibrates in her left pocket, and makes no move to answer it as she enters the first bus she sees.

Roxanne chooses a random café in an area of city she had not set foot in before. Small and quaint. She sets her self up in the corner of the room with a warm cup of coffee. Her eyes glance at the clock and she cracks her neck, time to work. It isn’t until once more a progress bar fills her screen does she check her phone. A missed call from, missed call from Zen.

It felt like another life for a moment, as she sat there. Her stomach twisted, the RFA didn’t know what she used to do on the side. Would they judge her, label her as dangerous? Did Seven already know, if he did was, he just not saying it?

She sets the phone down; she wasn’t doing anything wrong. This was just another way of helping. Her way of helping, her way of making use of her potential.

Her fingers curl up into a fist, nails digging into her palm.

Her choice, her way.

Once more she takes the phone into her hands and dials Zen placing the phone to her ear. She smiles at the screen as Zen’s voice greets her. A lightness in her chest forms as he gushes over the dinner later that night and Roxanne despite the distractions finds her focus a lot stronger, and finishes sooner than she expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roxanne is humming to herself, hips swaying as she adjusts her sweater dress in the mirror. She twirls in front of the mirror and takes another look at herself with a smile. The green Sweater dress barely reached her mid-thigh, and the short of the shoulder sleeves dangled around her upper arms. The rest of her arms were covered by long black sleeves with thumbholes. She had black tights underneath, and of course her favorite pair of combat which, on which she had exchanged the black laces for green ones. It was comfortable, casual and yet slightly formal.

Jumin had assured her not to worry too much about being formal for the restaurant, after all, he had doubted either Seven or Yoosung would show up in suits. Nevertheless, a change from her usual jeans was nice. She had even painted her nails a bright green color. It wasn’t perfect but she was happy with it.

“That’s right I’m wearing nail polish,” she whispers at the mirror before flipping it off and turning on the hells of her feet to grab her phone. She glances up on the CCTV camera, the red light was off. Nevertheless, she offers a wave before leaving the apartment. Grabbing her leather jacket she heads towards the bus stop.

The bus was slightly late; however, it was also almost empty and Roxanne had a free pick of seats. A solo window seat is her choice, allowing her to watch the world pass by her as bus makes its way through the city. The bus slows and traffic grows as they get close to the center of the city. Roxanne sits up glancing at the screen that shows the upcoming stops. Next stop was hers, once they got through this red light they were approaching. The bus slows to a stop and Roxanne stretched her legs, before switching songs on her phone. At the corner of her eye she sees a bright red car stop next to the bus. Once more she redirects her gaze out the window, eyebrows furrowing as she takes in the fancy red car. Streamlined, glorious and glinting under the sun. This car, she knew this car.

Roxanne sits up, all she can see is the arm leaning against the open window, a black flannel sleeve rolled up to the elbow. She tilts her head and as sees the tuft of messy red hair, peaking out barely around the shoulders. From her height she can’t see his face, nevertheless the less she can’t help but feel a tad giddy. The car purrs before it accelerates away from the bus that slowly accelerated compared to the beast of a vehicle. She watched the red car zoom towards the close by parking garage.

Grabbing her bag Roxanne, rushes towards the exit bouncing on her feet as she waits for the door to open. She practically leaps out the bus as the doors open, the moment her foot hits the sidewalk she turns towards the parking garage, even though It was in the opposite direction of the restaurant. The people around her are mere obstacles which she side steps with ease. Finally, she sees it, a mop of messy red hair pass by in the distance. She should approach him but her legs are stuck to the floor. What would she say? What would he say?

A lightbulb goes over her head and she pulls her phone out of her pocket. It only takes her a second to dial him, and hold the phone to her ear. She glances up, seeing the mop of hair that had now passed her, pause. The moment he picks up Roxanne speaks.

“Agent 606, reporting for duty. I have eyes on the target.” As she says this, she weaves her way through the crowd, ducking her head.

“Ahh, Agent 606,” A soft chuckle escapes him before he clears his throat and deepens his voice, “that’s good to hear, make sure you don’t lose visual on your target.” The mop of red hair begins to move forward again, and Roxanne follows.

“Approaching the target.” She says in a low whisper and right as Seven stops she ducks into a crowd, a second before he casts a glance behind his right shoulder. A hint of a smile plays along his lips.

“Agent 606, what have I don’t to deserve this?”

“Deserve what?” She breaths into her phone as she makes her approach once more.

“To have this target on my back?” His voice is low, almost a whisper.

“You know what you did.” Once more she makes her approach.

“You think, I’ll go down without a fight?”

“I hope not, that would be no fun.” A chuckle escapes him right as she approaches him, and she can’t help the chuckle that escapes her lips either. Seven turns to face her a grin on his face, “Busted!”

The suddenly exclamation causes her to bolt up right as her forest green eyes lock with his molten gold eyes. She freezes, holding the phone to her ear. For a moment they just smile at each other before Roxanne gives into the pull of the magnet. Launching herself at him she flings her arms around him as laughter escapes him. He catches her with easy, and swings her around for a moment. A squeak escaping her lips before her feet finally hit the ground.

Roxanne laughs as she pulls back, looking at the man chuckling in front of her.

“Hi!” She says in a breathless but joyful voice.

“Hi, yourself!” He responds with a grin.

“Target has been neutralized.”

A laugh escapes his lips as he pockets his phone.

“Job well done agent 606.”

Once more they find themselves chuckling. He still has that grin on his face as he looks at her and it makes her feel giddy. She feels like a light explodes in her chest and she can’t help but give Seven a full-blown smile, she doesn’t notice the light flinch and eyes widening from the male before he smiles back, hand scratching the back of his neck.

“Roxy! Seven!” A voice breaks out from the crowd, causing the two of them to look in its direction. A tuft of blonde hair bounces towards them through the crowd revealing Yoosung with a large smile on his face. As usual he greets Roxanne with a hug, and she can’t help but glance at Seven, he meets her eyes and smiles as he puts his hands in his pockets and pouts.

“Aww, Yoosung no hug for me?” Seven whines as Yoosung releases Roxanne. Yoosung offers him a deadpan look.

“Do you deserve a hug after bailing on me so often recently?”

Seven’s pout only grows as he begs Yoosung for forgiveness. Roxanne watches this with an amused smile on her lips, the whole scene was childish, insane, and it made her feel bubbly. Yoosung finally relents giving the redhead a half assed one-armed hug, and Seven gives Roxanne a thumbs up causing her to chuckle.

“Now that you’re done pouting, shall we head to the restaurant?” Yoosung asks them. The three of them head towards their location, as Yoosung chatters away to Seven about their Christmas Fundraiser plans.

“Did you guys see the news today?” Yoosung asks.

“You have time to look at the news? I thought you were busy playing LoLoL.” Seven teases.

“I turned on the Tv while getting ready. On the other side of the city, they busted this massive dog fighting ring. Apparently, there was an anonymous tipper. They received a bunch of photos, files and names of everyone involved. Who ever it was even contacted a bunch of animal welfare groups alerting them of the dogs.”

“Well that’s good, a lot less assholes walking in the streets.” Roxanne comments.

“Yea but get this, the guy had been accused before but he had connections to help him out. Who ever did this, completely screwed everyone over. And I’m glad they did, those poor dogs.”

“So how did they get the information?” Seven asks.

“Like I said I don’t know.”

“Sounds like a hacker.”

“You got competition.” Roxanne says in a sing song voice.

“As long as they leave RFA alone, they are not anything to me.”

“They seem like they want to help. So, I don’t think they’d want to hurt the RFA, maybe they’d help us.” Yoosung adds.

“Or maybe it was a paid job.” Seven counters, “you can’t trust hackers that easily. “

“Hmm, I don’t know I can think of one hacker to trust.:” Roxanne says as she opens the door to the restaurant, missing the momentary darkening of Sevens eyes.

“Not fancy, my ass.” Yoosung comments as they enter the massive interior of the restaurant. 

“It’s Jumin what else were you expecting?” Seven replies as he catches up to them.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how expensive this place is.” Yoosung groans.

“Good thing Jumin is covering the costs.”

The walls are mostly windows facing the colorful gardens in the front. Each table was decorated with a bouquet of white flowers and matching table clothes. The staff all wore fancy matching suits. One them approaches them.

“It’s not too fancy, Jumin says.” Yoosung mutters under his.

“I thought you’d know Jumin better by now.” Seven comments.

“How may I help you?” The server asks and Roxanne steps in front with a smile.

“Good evening, there is a table under the reservation of Jumin Han.” Roxanne greets him.

“Oh, of course. The rest of your party is already here. Just follow me please.”

The server leads them to a table by the window where the others were already seated. Jumin sat at the head of the table, motioning for Roxanne to sit to his left. Seven calmly sits down behind her, Yoosung across with Zen to his left and Jaehee at the other end of the table.

“It’s a shame V couldn’t join us.” Roxanne comments once they had all greeted each other and settled down. Yoosung snorts from the side.

“Yes, I agree, I did try to convince him to delay his trip. “Jumin replies, eyes momentarily glancing down.

“You’re worried about him.”

“Of course, I am.”

The waiter arrived holding a bottle of wine and presented it to Jumin, who simply nodded. He went around the table and poured it for everyone but Seven, who declined.

“Maybe next time, he can join us. “Roxanne says with a gently smile once the waiter leaves.

Zen clears his throat, causing everyone to look at him.

“I have some news I’d like to announce.” He says with a grin on his face, “I have been offered a leading role with Echo girl!”

“You’re shitting me!” Yoosungs voice is the loudest, covering over Jaehees gasp.

“I am completely serious. I got the phone call earlier today, so from tomorrow onwards I will be busy with rehearsals.”

“Congratulations Zen! I can’t wait to see it.” Jaehee gushes with a smile. Zen grins, glowing under the praise.

“I can get you all tickets, probably.” Zen comments.

“Oh no, I couldn’t bother you like that. You need to focus on practice.” Jaehee immediately declines waving her hands.

“Wait, don’t the actors usually get free tickets for family members.” Yoosung interjects excitedly.

“In most cases yes,” Zen answers, “In this case I can give it to you guys.”

“What about your family?” Jumin asks calmly.

“They probably wouldn’t come.” Zen replies, waving his hands.

“You’re not even giving them a chance Zen. You know family is very important.”

Roxannes leans into her chair, almost mirror the reactions from the other three not involved in the discussion. Her eyes glances to Seven beside her, who shrugs in response.

“Well not everyone can be born in a perfect family with a silver spoon in their mouth Jumin.” Zen hisses back.

“My family is far from perfect.” Jumins voice is cool and calm before he takes a sip of his wine, “but family is important.”

“Everyone’s family is different, and none is without it’s faults.” Roxanne interrupts leaning forward, and looking first at Zen in the eyes and then Jumin. The both leaned back into their seat, and Jumin now focused on Roxanne.

“I am quiet curious Roxanne; are you close with your parents?” He asks. Seven beside her pauses for a moment before leaning forward to fiddle with the napkin, she doesn’t note his golden eyes watching her from the corner. Roxanne opened and closed her mouth, before releasing a mix of an exhale and a chuckle.

“Well, we used to be close.” She replies, for a moment she looks away her eyes glancing at the wine glass before she looks back at Jumin who was now regarding her with a crease between his eyebrows. Was that concern she noted in his grey eyes? “It’s a bit difficult to be close with the dead.”

“I apologize, I didn’t know.” Jumin’s voice is soft, causing her to smile slightly at him.

“I didn’t expect you too. I don’t really expect anyone to know unless they are hackers.” Roxanne tilts her head to the side offer Seven a teasing grin. He in response looks up and smiles back. She turns to once more talk to the rest of them, “it was a long time ago I was young.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.” Roxanne looked at Jaehee, who was now leaning slightly at the table, one hand one the table now slightly closer as if reaching towards her. Roxanne’s eyes glance at everyone else. Everyone was looking at her. No glaring, no judgment. But curiosity, gentleness… pity? No, no this wasn’t pity. This didn’t make her want to curl up and hide. In fact, it made her feel warm.

She stretches out her arms in front of her before sighing with a soft smile.

“Car crash,” Roxanne replies, “I was lucky and survived.”

“You had no other family?” Jumin asks tilting his head to the side.

“Nope, no other family.” Her response is immediate, “I spent my childhood in orphanages.” She chuckles, “I was a bit of a problem child. Not a lot of people want to adopt a teen with piercings and tattoos.”

‘You have tattoos?” Yoosung suddenly interrupts and Zen shushes him.

“Yea, I got a few. Most are in place you can’t see on a daily basis. Anyway, at one point I just decided I wanted to make my own life. So, I focused on high school, got a scholarship, finished my bachelors and moved onto my masters. And that’s my life story. So no, no other family.”

“That sounds rather lonely.” Yoosung comments.

“But she’s not alone!” Zen suddenly exclaims, “she’s got us now.”

Roxanne chuckles, feeling her cheeks heat up, she scratches at her collarbone averting her gaze for a moment. That’s when her sighs blurs and she sees the lights heading towards her, it only for a second but suddenly the visions is ripped away by Sevens voice.

“Do I see a blush! Guys look at that! Doesn’t she look adorable when blushing!” Seven yells out, causing her to jolts up and look at him wide eyed. “See absolutely adorable!”

He grins at her showing off his teeth as she looks at him, and she smiles her shoulders relaxing. Even though it was by accident a part of her was grateful for the distraction.

“I guess the RFA, is some form of a family.” Jumin comments.

“We are not exactly your typical family.” Jaehee comments.

“What family is?” Roxanne adds, causing the others to chuckle. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to use the bathroom.”

Roxanne pushes the chair back and makes her way to the bathroom. As she washes her hands she glances up at the mirror. In the reflection the door opens, and Jaehee walks in.

“Ah, Roxanne. Are you alright?” She asks as she approaches her.

“Hey Jaehee, yea, I’m alright.” Roxanne replies offering a small smile, “thanks for asking.”

“No problem, I know talking about things like this can get taxing.”

“Oh?” Roxanne asks ash she tosses the paper towel in the bin and turns to face her. Jaehee nods before walking over to the couch places against the wall and takes a seat.

“I hope the questioning was not too intense, the RFA members mean no harm. In fact, I think most of us are curious. If it ever gets too intense, please do tell me and I’ll do what I can to help you.”

Roxanne walks over to her and sits down next to her.

“Thank you Jaheee, I appreciate it. I mean I am technically still new to the RFA and I haven’t exactly talked about my past. It makes sense that I’d have to talk about it at some point.”

“You’re not that new anymore. Without you, the RFA would feel empty Roxanne. I am glad you joined us. If you ever need someone to talk to what happened, I’m here. I… I might be able to understand what you went though. I unfortunately also lost my parents at a young age.” Roxanne can’t help but also reach out and gently squeeze the top of the others hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Jaehee gently touches the top of her hand with her own. For a minute they sat in silence, despite it felt like a thousand words were spoken. They both slowly feeling lighter.

“You know what I think we need,” Roxanne breaks the silence, “a girl’s night. Just the two of us. Where we binge drink coffee and watch Zens tapes and talk the night away.”

“You mean like a sleepover from the movies?”

“Yea, ever had one?”

“No, you?”

“Nope.”

“That sounds, like a great idea, Roxanne. I’ll have to check and hope I get some free time soon.” Jaehee says with a smile, “I should back now Roxanne.”

Jaehee gets to her feet and begins to walk towards the door, but then pauses.

“I hope Seven did not make you feel uncomfortable. He may come off as weird sometimes, but he is mostly harmless.”

“No, he did not. I don’t mind his weirdness if I’m honest.”

“Ah, I should have assumed so. You two really get along in the chat room.” Jaehee opens the door and before she disappears, she says one last thing, “I’m glad you joined the RFA Roxanne.”

Roxanne gets up to her feet, stretching her arms over her head. She checks her phone and there is a text from Seok.

“Thanks Glitch.”

Roxanne smiles before pocketing the phone and heading outside. She pauses at the corner looking at the table where the rest of the RFA was set. Jumin was sat drinking his wine, as Jaehee sat in her chair he calmly says something to her and she replies before turning her attention to Zen immediately striking up a conversation with him. Yoosung was waving his arms around as he described something to Seven, who was watching him, resting his chin on his fist lips dancing in amusement. She watches them for a minute.

Golden eyes glance up at her all of a sudden and Seven straightens up, tilting his head to the side as he looks at her. Roxanne smiles before striding back to the table.

Family, yea that seemed like something she could call the RFA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cool night air whips through them as they leave the restaurant, causing Roxanne to Zip up her jacket. Each of them, except Seven had red tinted cheeks from the wine. There’s a light mood, and even Zen and Jumin had stopped bickering. Seven stands to the side, hands in his pockets and Roxanne waves good bye to the others she picks up her pace to catch up to the red head as he starts to walk away from the others.

“My bus stop is down the road here.” Roxanne says as she pauses.

“Bus stop?” Seven asks with a smirk, “you don’t want a ride from God Seven?”

“Ride from,” Roxanne’s hand drops for a moment her brows crease and then she chuckles, “right! You know my address.”

“Come on, I’ll drive you home.” He says tilting his head towards the car park and Roxanne skips back towards his side.

“Are you telling me I’m going to ride in one of Seven’s amazing cars?” She asks in mock disbelief and a grin.

“That’s right! Don’t you feel special?” He asks as they make their way through the parking garage.

“I feel… honored!” She places a hand over her chest.

The car beeps as he unlocks it. Roxanne lets out a low whistle as she walks around it, marveling at its sleek turn.

“So, what do you think?” Seven asks leaning against the roof of his car and watching her.

“It’s gorgeous, is it fast?”

“Yea, I can’t drive it to it’s full potential in the city though. So sometimes, what I do is I take it outside the City, where they are no cars… and I just.” He looks out in to the distance, “go full speed.”

“Sounds nice,” Roxanne says leaning on the roof right across from him. He moves his gaze back to her and smiles.

“It is. You just forget everything and it’s just you, the car, the road and the sky.”

“Sounds peaceful.”

“It is, maybe I can take you one day.” He offers his golden eyes glimmering under the faint light.

“Will you let me drive?”

‘If you want, yea sure!”

Roxanne raises her eyebrows.

“Really, you’d let me drive one of your cars?”

“Yes of course, as long as we got to spend time together why not.” He replies right before opening the car door and entering the vehicle. Roxanne blinks for a second and smiles before doing the same. The both put on their seat belts and Roxanne looks out the window as he pulls out of the garage. A peaceful silence, fills the air.

Once the car is out in the streets at a constant pace, Seven speaks up again.

“I hope that wasn’t too intense for you?”

“Hmm?” Roxanne turns her head away from the window looking at him. “Oh no, it was okay. Like I told Jaehee, I was bound to talk about it at one point or another.” He glances at her.

“We are an intense and interesting group.”

Roxanne chuckles, “I guess I finally got my dysfunctional little family.”

Seven can’t help but chuckle as well.

Finally, he pulls up in her streets, pulling the gear into park he turns to face her.

“I’m curious,” he begins, “You mentioned tattoos, and I’ve seen the one on your forearm at times in the CCTV, it’s binary right?”

Roxanne smiles and lifts her right arm towards him, he looks at it and slowly takes it in his hands. Gently he pulls the sleeve up revealing the black tattoo that goes along her forearm. He mouths each letter the binary represents, as his finger traces along it.

“Glitch.” He finally says out loud.

“Glitch.” Roxanne parrots him.

“Why Glitch?” He asks looking up at her.

“Because I’m a glitch in the system. I’m not supposed to exist but here I am. You know stupid angsty teenage thoughts, I exist, I’m a nuisance, something to be fixed. A programmer’s nightmare.” She says this with a laugh, as goosebumps rose along the skin of her forearm.

“Hackers love glitches,” Seven responds, “they can be very useful for us. Gives us an opening, makes our job easier. They are something unexpected.”

‘Like me joining the RFA?” Roxanne offers and he chuckles.

“Exactly. Sometimes glitches can be pretty cool, and unique Without glitches I think the world of programming would be little boring.”

Warmth erupts and spread through Roxanne’s body, creeping up her neck along her cheeks.

“I guess, I’m a hacker’s best friend.” She replies in slightly lower voice and Seven hums out. His finger taps the light scar hidden behind the tattoo and he tilts his head to the side. His golden eyes for a moment narrow before he releases his arm and once more looks at her.

“From what I understand, you have more than one.” He says as Roxanne slowly moves her arm back to her side, not bothering to pull back the sleeve.

“Yea, but I’d have to lift up my dress.” She says before chuckling and taps the right side of her abdomen, “it’s right here. I do have a ph-… actually you’re going to have to complete a puzzle to see it.”

Seven grins before responding, “From what I remember it’s your turn.”

“Am I going to discover one of your hidden tattoos?”

“Maybe,” Seven says, “it in a really hidden spot.”

Roxanne places a hand over her mouth open mouth before gasping out loud.

“How scandalous, the great God Seven having such a sinful tattoo.”

Seven leans closer to her with a smirk, and it feels like the temperature of the inside the car slowly rises.

“Is it really a sin if I have it though, since I am a God. Gods can’t sin.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware Seven,” Roxanne leans closer to him, challenge glinting in her eyes, “there are plenty of mythologies where Gods sin. And I am certain you would be the type of God, that would not give two fucks about sinning.”

“And you would?”

“I am the best example of pure virtue.” The moment she says that she snorts and as if a trigger went off the two of them burst into laughter.

“We would make one weird Mythology.” Seven comments once catching his breath.

“The Hacker God and the Glitch Goddess, sounds like an interesting pair to wreak havoc. “

Seven straightens up and his eyes glance at the clock on the dashboard. His hand goes for the gear stick.

“Actually, are you up for a ride?” He asks, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

“You serious? Now?”  
“Yea.”

“Hell yes!”

His hand pulls the gear stick out of park and within seconds they are back on the road, driving away from Rika’s apartment building.

“If I am going to fast or you feel uncomfortable at any moment please tell me.” He says as he takes the main road heading outside of the city.

“I trust you Seven.”

Sevens lip twitches upwards. It takes a bit, but they finally turn into a deserted, empty road, spanning further than the eye can see. Roxanne straightens up in her seat and glances at Seven who offers her a quick smile before shifting gears. Roxanne’s back presses into the seat as they pick up speed. She relaxes into the seat and watches as the scenery pass by.

“Next time we do this, and you haven’t had any wine, I’ll let you drive.” Seven says as he relaxes into his own seat, eyes focused on the view in front and a smile on his face.

“I regret drinking that wine now.” She replies and she tilts her head to look at him, just for a moment she takes him. The golden eyes focused on the road, his hair in shaggy mess, and a smile on his lips. No, not the teasing coy smile he usually has one. But a relaxed on, it’s small but it’s there. He is the picture of serenity, his eyes for a moment glance at her from the corner of his eyes, meeting hers before refocusing on the road.

Roxanne swallows, hearing the thumping of her own heart in her ears. For a moment she wonders what this was? And then she tears her own thoughts away from it and her gaze away from him. Exhaling deeply, she lets the warmth wash over her before leaning her arm on the window and looking through it with a smile on her own face. She misses Seven, turning his head too look at her, his smile wider as he takes her in only for a moment before refocusing on the road. He can’t help but look forward to watching her be at the wheel.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this ?! A shorter chapter?!  
> Yea that's right this chapter is slightly shorter than the previous two.  
> Sorry to disappoint :( but i wanted to post it like this anyway.   
> Trying to deal with multiple plot points of MM at the same time is CHaos and I am doing my best xD  
> I am torn between going into more detail of all the chats in game or not... xD   
> Since some things do change due to the route and I don't want to repeat the chats that already happen.   
> Anyway hope you enjoy it :)

Roxanne didn’t question the light feeling in her chest as she entered the apartment as the sun rose. A smile on her lips, cheeks flushed as he hummed to herself. Her hair was in a wild disarray the open window. The wine had long ago left her system, and yet she couldn’t help but feel light headed. She stumbles as she kicks of her shoes, this causes her to chuckle to herself before shaking her head. What was wrong with her? She should have sobered up by now?

Sleep.

She needed to get some sleep.

The couch and blankets called to her like a siren’s song. She should change into pajamas, she should brush her teeth, she should move from the couch to the bed. But she doesn’t she collapses onto the couch snuggling into the blankets. Quickly she drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have you ever looked in the mirror and called yourself beautiful? Called yourself amazing?” Roxanne stands in the middle of the living room, Zen’s grasping her shoulders, gently but firmly. His leaning forward his red eyes locked with hers as he questions her. They burn into her, intense and unmoving. She inhales deeply, right before he releases her and takes a step back. The smoldering intensity gone, now replaced with an easy smile. “Better now?”

Roxanne nods, there was no denying his acting skills. Each scene she felt transported top another world with him, each time she was a different person.

They had been going at it for hours, and despite the intensity of the practices, Roxanne found it helped her rest. For days her time has been filled with studying for the end of term exams to preparing the Christmas fundraiser. So when Zen had asked her for help, she immediately jumper at the opportunity to take a break from everything.

Roxanne rolls her shoulders as she flops back into the couch.

“Yea I think so.” She replies before taking a sip of water and clearing her throat. “I think you did fantastic Zen, they are going to be floored by you.”

Zen’s smile grows at her praise before he to throws himself onto the couch next to her.

“Thanks for helping me out today.”

“Yea, no problem. I needed a break from everything else anyway.” Roxanne replies and rubs at her eyes.

“Anything I can help with?”

“Nah, it’s just, I’ve been every busy with assignments and the fundraiser. This is a really nice change, so technically you already did help.”

“Well, if I knew this would help you, I would have called earlier.” Roxanne hums out and stretches out her limb, causing a couple of her joints to crack, “so does that mean I shouldn’t ask how the fundraiser and studying is going?”

“You can ask. When it comes to studying, I’m mostly trying to motivate Yoosung, but that it… difficult at times.” Her eyebrows furrow, she wasn’t mentioning how he had another slip up yesterday, once more comparing her to Rika. “I feel fairly confident about my own exams, I just need to finish of the assignments which is more time consuming than anything. The fundraiser is going well, there is just a lot of things to take into consideration, and I am thankful for Jaehee and Yoosung’s help.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to help out.”

“You’ve been busy practicing for your new rule, don’t worry about it.”

“So has Jaehee and she’s still helping. I’ll figure out someway to help, I promise.:

“Just don’t overwork yourself. I already have to worry about Jaehee when it comes to that, please don’t add yourself to that list.”

“How the coffee research going?” Zen says as he gets up to walk to the fridge.

“Great, Jaehee is really enjoying it and it’s a great excuse to binge drink all the different types of coffee.”

“That’s good to hear, it’s important to do what you love.”

“Yea, true.”

Zen comes back and hands her a beer, which Roxanne takes with a smile before he flops back onto the couch.

“So, what are you plans once you finish school?”

“Uff, that’s a loaded question. I mean I guess I should put my programming skills to use.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Yea of course I do. I just need to figure out what to do with it after, what jobs to apply to, but that’s future me’s worries. I’m to tired to worry about that now.”

“Sorry for asking.”

“Don’t be. I’ll figure it out eventually, it’s good to have options.” Roxanne closes her eyes and leans her head against the back of the couch. “Right now, IU’m just focusing on well everything that’s going on now. Did you always know you were going to be an actor?”

Zen hums and takes a sip of his bear, before stretching out his legs.

“I mean yes and no, when I was younger, I discovered I wasn’t really scientific. My parents were both teachers and expected high things of my brother and me.”

“Yea, you mentioned you weren’t close to your parents.” Roxanne’s comments as she folds her legs under hear, turning to lean her back against the armrest turning to face Zen.

“They wanted me to become more scholarly like…” He pauses and takes a bigger swig of his beer before scowling lightly, “like my brother. He was the only one who understood me as a kid. My parents always reminded me that I couldn’t get through life on my beauty alone, it was my brother who used to tell me that it was okay to accept it.”

Zen pauses leaning his head back looking at the ceiling. Roxanne takes a sip of her beer, relaxing into the couch as she waits, until finally Zen speaks up again.

“He understood and accepted my dreams, until he became a lawyer, and then suddenly. He was the prime example of formalities, and logical thinking and suddenly all his support vanished.”

“That’s why you ran away.”

“Yea,” zen groans before rubbing his face, “this must sound stupid to you. Complaining about my family when you-“

“You’re allowed to complain.” Roxanne says sitting up, “just because you have a family doesn’t make it a good or healthy one.” Zen jolts looking at her wide eyed from her sudden interruption and loud voice. Roxanne clears her throat and relaxes back on the couch, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Thank you, but it’s all in the past. I’m here now and following my dreams... except.” He sighs and scratches his chin, “can I be completely honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“Every time Jumin speaks I think of my brother, after he changed. It’s all about his work and thinking a specific way. Born with a silver spoon in their mouths and thinking they know everything.”

“That explains why you guys always seem to argue.”

“Yup.”

“But, he’s not your brother. Try to remember that, and you are no longer a teenager living in those circumstance. You made it out of there.”

Zen sits up and holds his beer bottle out.

“To making it out there one your own,” he says looking at Roxanne with a smile, who sits up and raises her own bottle in response.

“And following your dreams.” She adds with a matching smile before they both take a sip of their drink.

“So, can I ask you a question Roxy?” Zen asks looking at her with a cocked head.

“Go ahead.”

“Have you ever been in love?” Roxanne raises her eyes brows at him before chuckling.

“No, I have not.”

“Had a boyfriend.”

Roxanne takes a swig before replying.

“First year of Uni, went on a couple of days with this guy. Not a boyfriend, but he was to pushy with somethings. He got upset I refused to kiss him when I wasn’t ready. Needless to say, I cut that short and... that is, it. You now know the entirety of my love life Zen.”

“Sounds like an asshole. You know it’s as I always say, men are wolves and you should be careful.”

Roxanne stretches her legs placing them in Zens lap.

“Does that mean I should be scared of you?” She asks in a teasing tone.

“No no, I am a gentleman.” Roxanne chuckles and shakes her head, “I’ll protect you from the wolves.”

“My hero!” Roxanne says in an over exaggerated voice causing Zen to pout. She chuckles at him.

Zen leans over and turns on the TV, they are greeted with the news and Zen pauses as the camera focuses on a man.

“Prime minister Choi is preparing for the elections, what are your opinions on this Ambassador Ryou?” On the scream they show a man in the office obviously over voice call.

“I have known Prime mini-“ Zen changes the channel.

“I assume you don’t want to watch this?

“Nah, I have no interest in politics. Just give me electronics and I’m happy.” She replies her voice slightly distant.

Roxanne stays a little longer, as they watch a sitcom after the fourth episode Roxanne made her leave catching the last bus home. Not before she hears Zen complain about not being able to make sure she arrives safely home. Roxanne opens the chatroom and enters it when she sees Jaehee online.

**Jaehee has entered the Chatroom**

**Roxanne has entered the Chatroom**

**Roxanne:** Hey Jaehee 😊

 **Jaehee:** Hello Roxanne, did you enjoy your day off?

 **Roxanne:** Yes I needed a break from everything.

 **Jaehee:** I agree, I did not look too healthy yesterday.

 **Roxanne:** I am feeling all better now ^^ I’ll be back to working again tomorrow.

 **Jaehee:** What did you do today?

 **Roxanne:** I went over to Zens place, and helped him with rehearsals. A nice little change of pace.

 **Jaehee:** And you’ve only just left? This late?

 **Roxanne:** Otherwise, I would not have been able to get home by bus… and I’d have no easy way home.

 **Roxanne:** Unless Seven would rescue my ass… but I doubt he has time to be my chauffer.

 **Jaehee:** Roxanne, I hope you are being careful. You leaving Zen’s place so late at night could send fans the wrong message.

Roxanne leaned her head back suppressing a groan. She adored Jaehee, and loved talking to her but when it came to this. It was always the same thing it seemed.

 **Roxanne:** Jaehee, I was just helping him practice his lines.

 **Jaehee:** It might not seem like that to his fans.

 **Roxanne:** Jaehee, I know you care about Zens status as an actor and so do I. I would never want to endanger his career. However, I also cannot control what Zen does in his free time.

 **Roxanne:** You’ve heard Zen complain about not having a GF. At one point there will be someone leaving his house late at night, or in the mornings even. What happens then? Should that be stopped?

 **Roxanne:** I think it’s unfair to expect Zen to give up his love l and relationship when it comes to his fans. There will be people who are upset if Zen gets a girlfriend. BUT if they are his fans wouldn’t they be happy that Zen finally found someone who makes him happy?

 **Jaehee:** I over stepped again didn’t I, Roxanne?

 **Jaehee:** You are right I am sorry.

 **Jaehee:** You have done nothing to earn my suspicion and yet here I am accusing you…

 **Jaehee:** Please forgive me, I have had a tiring and long day.

 **Roxanne:** It’s okay, just please respect that both Zen and I are adults.

 **Roxanne:** Did something happen today?

 **Jaehee:** Jumin has asked me to spend less time on the Coffee project ☹

 **Jaehee:** He expects it to fail and has put it on lower priority.

 **Roxanne:** Wait, why? So far results have been positive!

 **Jaehee:** He doesn’t believe it will benefit our company as much, and handed me another cat related project.

 **Roxanne:** But you’re still working on the coffee project?

 **Jaehee:** Yes, and I have to help with the fundraiser.

 **Roxanne:** Okay how about this, I’ll take over some fundraiser things.

Jaehee: You have exams and assignments.

Roxanne: Almost done with it, so it shouldn’t be a problem 😊

Roxanne: I still think we can do something amazing with the Coffee project. Your ideas are amazing once he sees what you’ve come up with, I’m sure he will change his mind. <3

Jaehee:…

Jaehee: Thank you Roxanne

Jaheee; Your support means a lot to me.

**Zen has entered the chatroom**

**Roxanne:** Long time no speak Zen :P

 **Jaehee:** Hello Zen!

 **Zen: !**!!!!

 **Zen:** Jaehee, are you kidding me?!

 **Zen:** He seriously has no respect for you!

 **Jaehee:** It’s fine. I have to finish off some paperwork. Talk to you guys later.

 **Roxanne:** Make sure you don’t overwork yourself Jaehee.

 **Zen:** Make sure to eat properly! And get some rest.

**Jaehee has left the chat**

**Zen:** Ugh this makes my blood boil!

 **Roxanne:** I’ll do what I can to try and help her.

 **Roxanne:** Yoosung and I are going to her place to work/study tomorrow. I’ll see what more I can do Zen.

 **Roxanne:** I’m almost at my bus stop. I’ll talk to you later Zen 😊 Bye~

 **Zen:** Bye!

**Roxanne has Left the chat.**

**~~~~~~~~~~~**

Jaehee’s apartment looks small with three papers along with papers, books and a blue print scattered across the tables, floor and even couch. Yoosung and Roxanne had claimed the carpet, moving the coffee table to the side. Roxanne had faint music playing from her laptop, as they each worked on their own respective projects.

“You should consider Sevens offer.” Roxanne comments not looking up from her screen.

“It’s ridiculous.” Jaehee comments shaking her head.

“It will give you time to focus on the Coffee project.” Jaehee is silent as she focuses on the screen in front of her. Roxanne gets to her feet and approaches her before taking a seat at the chair next to her. Roxanne frowns as she takes in the dark circles on the others eyes, the large shirt hanging off her shoulders. “You look like shit.”

Jaehee finally tears her eyes away from her screen and looks at Roxanne.

“I have to finish this.” She says.

“Or give it to Seven. He seems to really want to do it.”

“It’s not going to b-“

“I’ll message Seven and tell him to do it.” Yoosung interrupts from the carpet. He had now flopped over and was lying on his back looking at the other two.

“I mean, if he decides to do it. Could we really stop him?” Roxanne asks. Jaehee groans and rubs her eyes. “I’ll make some coffee take a break.”

Roxanne picks up the empty coffee mugs as Jaehee surprisingly listens and opens the RFA chat. Right as the water finished boiling Jaehee gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Roxanne asks immediately putting aside the kettle and walking over to her.

“Zen broke his leg.” Jaehee replies as she shows Roxanne her phone.

“That’s not good!” Yoosung exclaims as he scrambles onto his feet to look as well, “What is he going to do about rehearsals?”

“And he just got the new role alongside Echo girl.” Jaehee sighs, before slouching back in his seat, “he might miss out on a great opportunity.”

Roxanne walks away and takes out her phone rubbing her temples, she opens the chat and reads through it.

Between helping Yoosung study, dealing with Jaehees stress, studying for the exams and now this. Roxanne could not help but feel as if it the universe was pelting them with issues from all side. December was turning out to be one hell of a month.

“He lives alone as well, is he going to be able cook?” Yoosung pipes up from beside Jaehee.

“I don’t know, I don’t think he’s thinking about that right now.”

“And he shouldn’t have to.” Roxanne says putting her phone away, “he’s got the RFA doesn’t he.”

“Roxanne’s right!” Yoosung says with a smile, “we can help Zen Jaehee.”

“I have an idea.” Roxanne says as she kneels down, beginning to pack her books. “I say we give Zen a surprise visit, get him some groceries.”

“I can make us all dinner!” Yoosung says before jumping to back his study items.

“Can we really do that?” Jaehee asks looking at the other too.

“Why not? I’m sure he could use the company. Jaehee go shower, while Yoosung and I get some groceries.” From behind her Yoosung was muttering possible dishes he could make. “And then we are back we can leave for Zen’s place.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Zen’s lounging on the couch, his broken leg propped up on the table as he looks over the script. He sighs as he reads another line. On the armrest his phone is lit up, on the messaging screen with the director. He had pressed send a couple of minutes ago, no reply yet.

Was he out of the show?

Who would they replace him with?

How could he have screwed this up so bad?

Zen tosses the script on the coffee table. His head jolts up at the doorbell and he blinks. He hadn’t ordered anything, nor was anyone supposed to be visiting him.

“One second!” He calls out as he gets to his feet and wobbles over to the door.

When he opens it, his red eyes widen at the scene before him. Yoosung is at the front, holding a bag of what looked to be groceries and behind him were both Jaehee and Roxanne looking at him with a smile.

“Surprise!”


End file.
